LeBron James says Philly billboards are "very flattering"
CLEVELAND (WPVI) -- On Tuesday, Cavaliers star LeBron James was asked if he has travelled on I-480 in Cleveland in the last few days.
"I have not, but I know all about it. There's a lot of potholes on 480, you got to be careful with the cars," James said, as reporters laughed at his response.
Everyone, including James, knew what the question was really about.
"You're talking about the billboards?" James asked.
Three billboards, in fact, placed approximately 7 miles from the Cleveland Cavaliers' Quicken Loans Arena.
The first sign features "#23" in maroon with a crown on it on the court with four blue numbers, numbers that just happen to match the Philadelphia 76ers jerseys of Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Dario Saricand Robert Covington.
The second billboard several hundred feet farther says "Complete The Process." And the third says "#PhillyWantsLeBron."
The signs seem to be inspired by "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," the Academy Award-nominated film starring Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson, in an attempt to convince James to leave his native Ohio and head to Philadelphia via free agency this summer.
James told reporters he hasn't seen the billboards yet, but he's certainly heard about them.
On whether he thought the billboard gesture was flattering, James said, "It is. Absolutely."
"You can say it's a distraction. It's not. Not a distraction, it's actually very flattering," he said.
The billboards, which will be up for three months, were put there by Power Home Remodeling, a company based in Chester, Pennsylvania.
James said, even though he's 33 and in his 15th year in the NBA, "people in their respective city want me to play for them, I mean, that's cool, I think. That's dope."
The 76ers will be in town to play the Cavaliers on Thursday night in a nationally televised game, but the team has nothing to do with the billboards, and can't have anything to do with them, since that would be considered tampering.
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ESPN contributed to this report.
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