LeBron James TV Special was Jim Gray’s Idea

The veteran interviewer nailed down the gig the old fashioned way... he asked.

One of the oddities associated with Lebron James Night in America was the choice of Jim Gray as the interviewer. It turns out that Gray not only got the gig simply by asking James's camp for it, he's taking credit for giving them the idea for the TV show to begin with. Gray tells the "Mason and Ireland" radio show in Los Angeles:

"I saw Maverick Carter and LeBron James at Game 2 of the NBA Finals and asked them if I could do the interview and it's taken its own course since then. Maverick liked the idea and thought it would be a good idea to make their announcement, to have it as a television show. And he took the ball and ran with it."

As far as any inside knowledge he may have leading up to the program airing on ESPN tonight, he claims to know nothing and doesn't believe anyone else has accurate, inside information.

"I don't know and I don't think that anybody that tells you that they know, really knows. So, I think we're all in the dark here."

One can only hope that this is as memorable as the Pete Rose interview 11 years ago. You can bet Gray is hoping for the same thing if for no other reason than to give the casual viewer something better to attach his name to than this two and a half minute awkward display of unintentional humor.

If James doesn't pick Cleveland, Gray better be in "Pete Rose attack" mode.