LeBron James clarified comments he made in August about his admiration of Julius Erving.

James put Erving in his top-3 players.

"The conversation was 'Who do I like?' '' James said. "Who were my three? Who were my favorite three of all time?' No one knows who's the greatest three players of all time. It's impossible. No one can say who's the best three of all time. You're going to have Jordan there for sure. But after that, you can have Bird, Magic, Kareem, Wilt, Bill Russell, Oscar, Jerry West, Dr. J. You might even throw LeBron in there, maybe.''

James may pay homage to Erving by playing a game this season in small shorts.

"I'm just wondering how in the heck they played like that,'' James said. "I might bring it back, though. I might play in some small shorts this year. Pay my homage to the '80s, to Dr. J and John Stockton. I don't think it's going to catch on, but I'm going to do it one game, maybe opening night. I can't go all the way up (the legs), though. Athletes today are built a little differently in the legs.''

The Los Angeles Lakers played one half of one game in small shorts as a throwback game several years ago.