NBA Finals MVP LeBron James talks about how life has changed for him since his team, the Miami Heat, won the 2012 NBA championship, and David Letterman talks to the NBA star about his decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers, when James visits the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN, Tuesday, June 26.
James walked out on the stage of the Ed Sullivan Theater to a standing ovation from the audience as Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra played the Power Station song “Some Like It Hot.† Letterman and James then began discussing James’ leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers and what it is like to have won the NBA Finals with the Heat:
Letterman: “Well, now that you’ve got this out of your system, are you ready to back to Cleveland and play some ball?â€
James (laughs): “Oh, right now, I’ll play no ball right now.â€
Letterman, referring to James’ leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers: “Now, I was on you, I was furious at you.  I just thought, you know – you don’t care, do you?â€
James:  “That you [were] on me?â€
Letterman: “I just thought, ‘The opportunity was there, by God, I’m gonna stick it out in Cleveland and lift that city.’â€
James: “I heard all of that too from you.  You know, and I thought we were friends.â€
Letterman:  “We are friends.  That’s why it hurt me so bad.â€
James:  “You know, this is my fifth time on here with you, David.†(Dave, audience applaud)
Letterman: “You must have got tired of punks like me wising off.â€
James:  “You know what brought me here?  It was our shootout we had outside,†referring to an earlier LATE SHOW on which James was a guest and he and Letterman shot hoops on 53rd Street.
Letterman: “I showed you something that night, didn’t I?â€
James:  “Yeah, you did.  You showed me that you [were] a great man and I was going to come over here and say, ‘You know, I’m gonna sit down,’ and then I was gonna leave, but I was like, ‘That’s a great man right there.’â€
Letterman: “Thank you very much…This championship changes many things in your life, doesn’t it?â€
James: “Oh, absolutely.  Uh, I went from being ringless on Wednesday night to, you know, having a ring on Thursday night, so it changed that.â€
James’ entire interview can be seen on the LATE SHOW tonight (11:35 PM-12:37, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
Also on the LATE SHOW tonight are actor Andrew Garfield, star of the new film “The Amazing Spider-Man,†and musical guests Maroon 5.
The LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN is a production of Worldwide Pants Incorporated. Â Barbara Gaines, Matt Roberts, Jude Brennan, Maria Pope, Eric Stangel, Justin Stangel and Rob Burnett are the executive producers.
RATING: TV-PG (Rating may change on day of broadcast due to specific subject matter.)
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