Before he turned in a legendary performance of his own Tuesday night, LeBron James paid homage to the original Cleveland legend.
James took a moment just before the start of last night’s NBA Finals Game 3 win over Golden State to put his hands together and bow in the direction of Browns Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, who was sitting courtside.
“It was an honor for this young man to pay tribute to an old soldier,’' Brown told Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “It was very special to me. We all want to be acknowledged by our peers and by good people and respect is a great word. I look at it as a gesture of respect at a moment when LeBron is the man. . . .
“It was one of my favorite sports moments of all time. He didn’t have to be thinking about me, so for him to even have the brilliance to show that kind of respect, it doesn’t happen too many times in my life. It was a wonderful feeling.’'
Brown, who put his hands together and motioned back, said he thought James’ gesture was a display of character.
“He does a 1,000 things in so many different ways that are positive and a lot of them people might miss,’' Brown said. “Well they didn’t miss the one last night. And I guess he knew what he was doing, because he inspired people by just being respectful to me. And that’s quite a deed.’'
Of course, if James can do something no one in Cleveland has done since Brown in 1964 — win a major sports title — he’ll have people bowing in his direction as well.