We all remember when LeBron James got off of the team plane in Cleveland after his Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championship.
Fresh off of beating the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, LeBron was wearing an “Ultimate Warrior” t-shirt. For those who don’t know, “The Ultimate Warrior” is an ex-WWE wrestler who James loved as a kid.
Recently, LeBron spoke with Alyson Shontell of Business Insiders, and said that wearing the shirt was merely coincidental:
Shontell: You were wearing an Ultimate Warrior shirt when you got off the plane. People loved that — well, or hated it. Be honest: Did you pack that before you won game seven? How’d you wind up wearing that shirt?
James: Well, it’s funny because my wife bought [it earlier]. She asked me who my favorite wrestlers of all time were, and I told her Sting, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Ultimate Warrior, The Undertaker, and Ric Flair. Those are some of my favorite guys ever from growing up.
So, one day I get home from practice, and there are these T-shirts laying in my bedroom, and my wife purchased them from a store. I packed them all throughout the playoffs. And the shirt that I had on to come home in, I wore in Vegas, and my teammates sprayed me with Champagne. It got soaking wet, so I had to throw it in the trash, and the only other shirt I had in my bag was my Ultimate Warrior T-shirt.
Shontell: The only one?
James: That was the only one because all our bags were underneath the plane. So the only one I had was the Ultimate Warrior T-shirt that was packed in my travel luggage. And that’s what I put on. Everybody thinks it was set up that way, but it really wasn’t. It kind of worked out that way.
Shontell: But what if you had lost? That shirt would not have been on if you had lost.
James: That would have been the T-shirt I’d have had on still. Or I could have done the J.R. Smith and not worn a T-shirt.
It still seems like this may have been planned, and LeBron may not want to look like he was rubbing it in the Warrior’s faces, but who knows. Maybe he is being truthful, and this was an accident. I guess we will just have to take his word for it.
