The latest ex-player to put his name on that notion is Rashad McCants, a four-year veteran of the league (Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings) and a standout in college at North Carolina where he won a national championship in the 2004-05 season -- one year after James entered the NBA.

There's no question that the Los Angeles Lakers were disappointing during the playoffs. There's a good chance that the organization expected to struggle a bit without a dominant big man to replace Anthony Davis.

Cooper Flagg expressed his desire to share the court with LeBron James as the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft looked ahead to his future in the league