LeBron James' former Cavaliers teammate reveals secret moniker for 4x NBA champion: "God just sent you"

Given that LeBron James has played over 20 years in the NBA, he's encountered many different players throughout his career. One of the players who had the chance to play with him was Mateen Cleaves. Cleaves was a star player in college and had a role-player type of career in the NBA.

Early in James' career, he got to team up with Cleaves. Coming into the league, there were doubts about how great of a player the kid from Akron was, as he was coming straight from high school.

While there have been outstanding players who went straight to the professional league after graduating high school, there was still some doubt from others.

Cleaves had the chance to share his experience with the four-time champion during his guest appearance on the recent episode of "All The Smoke," released on Thursday.

According to Cleaves, playing with a young James was "different" and he was surprised right from the start:

"I gave him a nickname, 'Heaven Sent'," Cleaves said. "God sent you. You don't get that good early, right out the gate, 18 [years old], coming out of high school. I was like, 'Nah, he can't be that good. He gon' be good in the league.'

"I'm in practice with this boy I'm like, 'Woo!' He was the real deal, as a baby. He knew it, he had a great feel for it. Athletic, [can] get where he want to get. He was different. I used to call him Heaven Sent, 'God sent you dog.' The build, athletically."

Cleaves talked about playing with a young James at the 47:00 mark.

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Cleaves played one year with James with the Cleveland Cavaliers. During his stint, the point guard only played four games and put up 3.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. The 2003-04 season was the only time he played with the eventual four-time champion.

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How good was rookie LeBron James?

LeBron James took the league by storm in 2003. Right out of high school, he didn't disappoint and showed that he was the right player. In his first NBA game, the Cavs played against the Sacramento Kings and he finished with 25 points, six rebounds, and nine assists.

James also had his first 40-point game as a rookie when they played against the New Jersey Nets on March 27, 2004. He also had 12 games where he finished with at least 30 points and 27 games where he finished with at least 20 points.

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Ultimately, he topped off his historic year when he won the Rookie of the Year at the end.

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