To land LeBron James, Cavaliers once traded 2002 assist leader to the Clippers for high-flying dunker

21 years ago, the world was getting ready for the LeBron James Express to hit the NBA tracks. Everyone prepared for the eventuality in different ways - the Cavaliers, the eventual winners of the James lottery, moved their most creative player at the time to tank their way to the top.

This video clip doing its rounds around the internet provides a glimpse at the context of the move at the time of the trade.

While they could not have guaranteed themselves the top spot, the worst team in the league held a 22.5% chance at the No. 1 pick at the time.

To improve their odds, the Cavs made a trade in 2002 that saw the league's only 10-assist-a-game player at the time - Andre Miller move to the Los Angeles Clippers.

The video, uploaded on Twitter, can be found @NBACobWebs, a page dedicated to refurbishing clips from NBA archives.

July 29, 2002: The Cavaliers trade Andre Miller and Bryant Stith to the Clippers for Darius Miles (and Harold Jamison), who "will play on a bad team trying to come in last and get the first overall pick in 2003—which will be LeBron James, the kid out of high school."

📺 KHSL-TV pic.twitter.com/3fGbPe4ZDn

The video presents how the NBA landscape was at the time and how the trade was reported. It was evidently seen as a move to tank.

Moving a solid role player in Bryant Stith and their top-10 pick from 1999, who was performing at a borderline All-Star level, in return for Darius Miles was clearly a move to ensure many games weren't won in Cleveland.

LeBron James was a standout star among his peers

LeBron James went on to become a Cavaliers icon.

As the video reveals, there was no doubting the arrival of the 'Chosen One'. The Cavaliers wanted to keep the boy from Akron and were willing to move the NBA's assist leader, whom they had merely drafted three drafts prior.

The 2003 draft, as we are all aware, is one of the most star-studded draft classes of all time. But even at the time, without LeBron James having stepped foot in the collegiate level, the teenager stood out from his peers.