Ricky Davis, right, knew LeBron James as an opponent, including in 2006 when Davis played for the Timberwolves, and as a teammate for 22 games in 2003. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Ricky Davis was with Cleveland and entering the sixth season of a 12-year NBA career when the Cavaliers selected 18-year-old LeBron James with the first selection in the 2003 NBA draft.

James had played his senior year for St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, 38 miles from the Cavaliers' arena.

"My brother Edward had moved to Cleveland, and we looked into the idea of having him attend that school in Akron and, hopefully, be on a team with LeBron," Davis said. "So I saw LeBron play four or five games in high school. He was a man-child by his senior season.

"There were a number of our players not convinced that the Cavs using the No. 1 pick on a high school kid was a great idea. I'd seen him enough to know it wouldn't take long for LeBron to start having an impact."

Davis paused and said: "I remember all the expectations, especially in that part of Ohio, and you did wonder how anyone could live up to all of that."

Davis had been the Cavaliers' best player in 2002-03, averaging 20.6 points, and also leading them in minutes and assists.

The Cavs weren't interested in getting him much help, as they went 17-65 while seeking the best possible lottery odds to land the right to draft James.

Unfortunately for Davis, he played only 22 games with the teenage basketball prodigy before being traded to Boston on Dec. 15, 2003. Later, he came to the Timberwolves in the Wally Szczerbiak trade to the Celtics in January 2006.

He played in 117 games for the Wolves before being traded to Miami before the start of the 2007-08 season. His NBA career ended in 2010.

Through all this, and still today, he remembers those first expectations on young LeBron James and says:

"He's more than lived up to those. He's still going strong at 39. It's amazing. He's been better than people dreamed.

"And I'm sure when he came back to Cleveland, after winning the two titles in Miami, it was because he didn't want the people that he grew up with, lived with, in that part of Ohio to be disappointed in him. He came back to give them a championship, and he did [in 2016]."

Davis has settled in the Twin Cities, and he is now in his second season as the boys coach at Minneapolis North.

No LeBron, but he said: "We're pretty good. We've improved over last season."