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Larry Nance Jr. has already had a hell of an NBA life in his first six years, the last four of which have come with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He played with two legends in Kobe Bryant on the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James on the Cavs within three seasons.
In his first year, Nance had a front-row seat to Kobe Bryant's farewell tour, which was capped off by a miraculous 60-point finale at Staples Center against the Utah Jazz.
Nance, along with Jordan Clarkson, was then traded back home to Cleveland in his third season. The duo played alongside LeBron James and Kevin Love, who were pursuing a fourth consecutive NBA Finals appearance together.
In an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints to talk about his small business initiative, Larry Nance Jr. also talked about a wide range of topics including his Cavs, his time with LeBron James, and so much more.
“It was something where everything he said, every word he had, positive or negative, about our team and every ounce of advice, everything he says just carries so much weight because of the caliber of person and the player he is,” Nance admitted about his time playing with LeBron James. “It was something that you just want to play well, you want to play hard because you see him giving it all. This man is 36 and still the best player in the world. That’s incredible.”
It certainly isn't lost on Nance that he's one of the few players able to play with both Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
“I think, being able to play, I got to play with Kobe and Bron … I mean that’s unheard of,” Nance added. “I’ve had an unbelievable, unbelievable career thus far and I certainly, the experience I’ve gotten to have. I’ll never forget and playing with Bron was one of them. He doesn’t need my praise but I think he’s obviously, he’s my greatest player of all time, but more so than that just the work off the court is what makes him spectacular in my mind.”
Playing with the two superstars provided Nance with a plethora of knowledge, stories, and experience that simply isn't available anywhere else. Kobe Bryant was one of the most heavily scrutinized players throughout his career due to his ferocious, somewhat over-the-top leadership style. LeBron James had the most hype of any professional athlete of all time coming out of high school, and he has easily surpassed those sky-high expectations.
Despite just playing a year with each, Nance says he was able to learn something from both.
“It did, more so the LeBron year than Kobe year. We all know Kobe’s last year, nobody expected anything. They were just there to watch Kobe and I could have showed up to the game naked and nobody would have known because they were all staring at him, which they should have been.
“But you know LeBron, going to the Finals with him was a different experience you know. The kind of attention that a team like that demands and the kind of publicity that the guys on the team had, the names and the followers and all that stuff was too much for me at the time. I didn’t know how to handle it. I handled it poorly looking back on it in terms of like my just stress levels and trying to figure it all out. I just wish I could be the player and person I am now on that team in 2018 … I just wish. But yeah I learned a lot, I learned a lot. Biggest thing is in terms of life, I took a lot of that stress home with me and was grumpy and moody and all that, but now it’s just you learn to handle it and a season like that, a run like that, really makes you learn how to handle things quick.”
Just months after Nance was traded from the Lakers, LeBron James elected to join the Purple and Gold during the summer of 2018.
You can watch to the full podcast with Cavs' Larry Nance Jr. on YouTube:
