“We would love to have you here” - Daniel Gibson recalls LeBron James’ stamp of approval after workout with Cavs

Daniel “Boobie” Gibson was a fan favorite in his stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers. His biggest supporter, however, was none other than The Chosen One himself, LeBron James .

Gibson, who played seven seasons with the Cavs, sat down with the guys at the "Ur.Perspectives podcast" and recalled how Bron vouched for him after seeing his workout.

“To cap that whole thing, LeBron was in the building. Watched the workout. When I left, he said, ‘Hey, we would love to have you here.’ And that’s all I needed to hear,” said Gibson.

“When LeBron say it’s good, it’s great,” host Damyean Dotson chimed in.

Boobie canceled all his scheduled workouts

After hearing LeBron’s stamp of approval, Gibson received a promise from the Cleveland front office that he would not go any further if he’s available at 42.

“Lance Blanks, rest in peace, he was at the front office… Obviously, you can’t ever be like, we’re taking you, but I could just feel the love. (They said,) ‘Don’t nobody really know that you’re this good. They are all down on you based on what you did this year. We are high on you, so if you’re on the board at 42, you know we ain’t gonna pass,’” Boobie recalled.

The next thing the Texas native did was do his due diligence, only in reverse. He shut down all his scheduled workouts so that Cleveland would inevitably draft him at No. 42. The rationale was that if the other teams saw what he could do, they might just derail the plan and snag him before the Cavs did.

It was a huge gamble—someone higher on Cleveland’s draft board could have been available, leading them to go in a different direction. If that happened, Gibson might have gone undrafted. Despite the risk, he took a leap of faith, and fortunately, everything worked out as planned.

Rose to the occasion

Gibson had a rocky rookie season and played limited minutes behind Eric Snow and Damon Jones in the rotation. But if The King had visions of Boobie making a difference when it mattered, he didn’t have to wait long.

In the 2007 playoffs, the former Texas Longhorn rose to the occasion against the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. He averaged 21 points over the last three games of the series and dropped a game-high 31 points off the bench in the deciding Game 6. Even though they got outclassed by the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals, the rookie was Cleveland’s third-leading scorer (10.8) while leading the team in steals (1.5).

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Early retirement

Gibson’s last season was in 2012-13 and did not return to the NBA. He was still 26 years old, but according to Boobie, injuries kept piling up one after the other, from a broken foot, torn meniscus, and a bum back. The 6-foot-2 guard began doing rap music and reality TV with ex-wife Keyshia Cole to occupy himself.

“We on the Internet had out back and forth because obviously, when you’re still fresh out of somebody, it’s hard to work out,” Gibson said of working with Cole after their divorce. “But I will say, after all that, we always kept the business in mind. If we work together and get a bag, we know all this is going to (their son) DJ. She always do that and same for me.”

After being away in the NBA for nine seasons, Gibson returned to the Cavs in a different capacity. He served as an assistant coach and a scout for Cleveland’s G-League team, the Canton Charge. There was no LeBron's endorsement this time, but more importantly, he got the role on his own merit.

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