FILE–LeBron James attends the NFC Divisional Round playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 12, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/AFP
Already a seven-time NBA All-Star when the 2011 NBA lockout occurred, LeBron James maintains he had a chance to change sports.
The Los Angeles Lakers star, speaking with Peyton Manning and Eli Manning on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” coverage, revealed that he was courted by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll while the NBA was amid its labor dispute.
“Jerry Jones offered me a contract, and actually Pete Carroll in Seattle did as well during our lockout time,” James said. “Definitely got my blood flowing again, got my mind racing again about the game of football, being out there on Sundays. We was able to get a deal done in the NBA and I was back on the court in no time, but I definitely thought about it.
“I still got the jerseys, too, that Jerry and Pete Carroll sent me from 2011.”
James, 36, said his NFL position would have been tight end.
“I wanted to be a red-zone specialist, like Gronk,” he said, referring to Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski.
The NBA restarted in December 2011, and James captured his first league title that year with the Miami Heat, and he won another title the following season.
Now a four-time champion, James is a 17-time All-Star and a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player. He ranks third in NBA history with 35,367 points, an average of 27 per game over 1,310 games.