Reds legend offers tongue-in-cheek take on LeBron James' success

Though he began his career with the Cleveland Indians, pitcher Danny Graves enjoyed his best years with the Cincinnati Reds. Having went on to spend nine seasons with the team.

On Thursday's episode of "Riverfront Territory," Graves spoke about his encounter with NBA legend LeBron James.

Explaining how he "big leagued" a young LeBron back then, the two-time All-Star hilariously claimed James' basketball successful career could be a result of what he learned from Graves that fateful day.

"The day LeBron James was just drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, he came out to throw out the first pitch," Graves said (Timestamp: 3:21). "We were in Cleveland. He came out to throw out the first pitch. Of course, he had just signed with Nike too, and we had Ken Griffey Jr. So LeBron came into the dugout. So here's the thing, LeBron's a 17/18-year-old kid, whatever. He's sitting in the dugout with Griffey before he had to go out. Since I started that game, I was trying to be locked in and focused. "I saw him sitting over there and I'm like, 'Do I go over and say something, or do I just big league him?' Guess what I did? I big leagued him, I can't believe it. Dude, I got to go get ready for the game. I am the starter today. I don't care if it's LeBron, I need to get ready for the game. Maybe that's why his career turned out so great, because he knew that as a professional athlete, you can't have these distractions before the game. You have to go out and prepare yourself for the game."

---

Danny Graves was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 2023

After his time with the Cincinnati Reds came to an end, Danny Graves went on to represent the New York Mets and Cleveland Indians once agian, before retiring from the sport in after the 2026 season.

Milwaukee Brewers v Cincinnati Reds - Source: Getty

About seventeen years after he called time on his career, Graves was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds' Hall of Fame, in July 2023.

Edited by Raghav Mehta