CLEVELAND -- LeBron James and Larry Nance Jr. may be teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers, but their personal interests will be divided prior to tonight’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center.
Before the Cavaliers wrap up the west-coast portion of the six-game road trip against the Trail Blazers, James and Nance will have a keen focus on an OHSAA Division II Regional Semifinal between their respective alma maters, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and Richfield Revere.
“Yeah, we’ve already got a bet,” James said at shootaround prior to Tuesday’s game against the Phoenix Suns. “We’ve already got a bet. Of course, he’s got his school and his little brother. Everybody knows who I’m going with.
“We raise banners where I’m from, so we’re not worried about Revere at all.”
Tonight’s game between St. Vincent-St. Mary and Revere will take place at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.
The wager between James and Nance Jr. will have more to do with pride than money, but no word on if it will be similar to the bet he and Dwyane Wade made on the 2016 World Series when their hometown teams, the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians, played in a seven-game battle that needed extra innings in Game 7 to decide it.
“It ain’t about that,” James said. “It ain’t never about that. I don’t talk about, we don’t talk about salaries. Whatever bet he wants to make, I’m all for it.”
Famously, James led the Fighting Irish to three state championships in his four-year career at St. Vincent-St. Mary, and finished as a state runner-up during his junior season.
Nance Jr. was born in Akron, Ohio, and played for Revere High School before taking his game to the next level at the University of Wyoming.
During his senior season at Revere, Nance averaged 18.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, 2.6 steals and 2.3 assists per game. With Nance, Revere finished the 2010-2011 season with a school-record 21-2 mark and won a second straight Suburban League Championship with a perfect 13-0 slate.
In Nance’s final two years of high school, Revere had a 40-6 overall record, 28-0 mark in league games and was a two-time District finalist.
Nance is Revere’s all-time leader in blocked shots in a game, season and career.
“Larry’s not a junk talker,” James said. “I’m really not either, to be honest. Listen, we had our great conversation about what’s going to happen, and we’re more mad that we can’t be there Thursday. Obviously, we’ve got work to do, but we’ll see what happens.”
