The long wait for LeBron James unfolds in a luxury hotel suite large enough to fit a stylish apartment. It is a very big space for small talk with a quartet of people I have just met. But these are the people assigned to a basketball superstar visiting London. They, in turn, are expected to liaise with the separate group of "LeBron's people" who are with him a floor above us in this swish Soho establishment.

There has been much discussion between the different sets of people and my interview with James has been arranged, cancelled, rearranged and now simply delayed. I had called it off two days previously when told that LeBron's people were not prepared for him to discuss either the smouldering controversy surrounding his move last year from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat or the current lockout which has prevented the start of the NBA season.

He would not be here, attending a London School of Basketball day earlier this month, if not for a lockout which could ruin the entire NBA season. And it would be impossible to interview James without asking him about the way in which, during the summer of 2010, he opted to showcase his new choice of team as a television extravaganza he called "The Decision".

After seven years as their star player, James phoned Cleveland just minutes before announcing Miami as his destination live on television. Disappointed rivals and indignant fans unleashed furious condemnation. For James, who has long proclaimed his intention of using his "brand" to help him become a billionaire, the vehement reaction was a painful surprise.

It is my turn to be surprised. The interview had been salvaged when James's team backtracked and agreed that he would answer questions about "The Decision". Even more strikingly, the people looking after LeBron's people try their best – and when James finally arrives his entourage of eight disappear behind the divide of our massive suite. King James and I settle down alone on a plush sofa. As a gentle prelude, now that he is a minority shareholder in Liverpool, I ask him about his tweet in October on Twitter. Having visited Anfield, and seeing Liverpool draw 1-1 with Manchester United, he hailed an "unbelievable experience".

James smiles and polishes the memory: "That came from the simple fact of how passionate and loyal those fans are. But to walk through the facility the day before – to see all the history and achievements was very powerful. Liverpool have won 19 league championships [in fact, they have won 18] and it meant a lot to read about King Kenny and Steven Gerrard – a hometown kid who now captains the team. And then to be at Anfield and see 40,000 fans screaming at the top of their lungs, the whole game, was an unbelievable experience for me."

I grin back at the smooth King Kenny reference. When he met Liverpool's manager, did he find it easy to tune into Dalglish's Glaswegian accent? "King Kenny is something else! His accent is very strong. So it was very difficult to understand what he was saying – but it was great being around him and [Luis] Suárez and Gerrard and Dirk [Kuyt] and those guys. I was very humbled that they knew me."

More significantly, James's interest in the club is centred on a belief that Liverpool have the potential to widen their global appeal. "Absolutely," he says. "Any time you have so much history and so much power behind their story, there is great potential to continue that expansion. Liverpool are definitely one of those clubs. They really are like Man U – and the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Yankees. There are some teams and logos you see, no matter where you are in the world, and you know exactly who they are and what they mean. I see Liverpool in that group."

If he declines to confirm the exact size of his small stake in Liverpool, James warms to the idea that, like him, the club is in passionate pursuit of a long-lost championship. It has been over 20 years since Liverpool won their last league title; while James is still chasing his first NBA championship ring after eight seasons. "It definitely gives me another incentive to be part of that team. They're striving to be a champion and I'm striving to do the same. It would be great if we could do it in the same year."

This June, in a Miami team featuring two other free-agent All-Stars in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, James fell at the final hurdle – losing 4-2 to the Dallas Mavericks. James might be dismissed by many for his corporate sensibility but defeat hurt him badly. When did he get over the loss? "A couple of days ago," he says, laughing wryly. "It stayed with me a couple of months. It was definitely heartbreaking. [But] I really believe it's made me a better player. And I'm a better person as well for it – just in terms of focusing harder, zeroing in even more. It's made me critique my game and work out who I am as a person. We faced a great team in Dallas and I don't think enough people gave them the credit they deserve. They were so excited to write and talk about us they often forgot about the Dallas Mavericks. But they have two Hall of Famers in Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd."

James admits a more personal hurt. "It's definitely tough, sometimes, when you read a lot of negative things that say you're selfish or you don't play the right way. But, for me, I've only played one way: for the team."

Can he understand why he was criticised by so many past great players who felt he had sacrificed his own legacy by linking up so calculatedly with Wade and Bosh – rather than trying to drive Cleveland to a championship? "Of course I understand that. But people talk as if I'm done. I've got years left to build my individual legacy – if that's what they want to call it. But, right now, it's all about my team's legacy."

Was James taken aback by the ferocious criticism of his screening of "The Decision"? "Um, yeah. I was surprised by it because I was making a decision for myself. I was doing something that I believed was going to make me happy and freshen me up. But looking back I can understand why a lot of people were upset. That definitely wasn't my intention: to upset people."

Does he wish he could change what he did in the summer of 2010? "I can't say I would change anything – because it would change so much that is leading to the future. But, yeah, there is definitely a better way I could have handled it, as far as the whole TV thing is concerned, and the same goes for the build-up to the announcement. A lot of people were hurt by it – and I definitely apologise to them. At the same time, you should never be afraid to do what you believe in."

James insists that, in choosing to show "The Decision" on television, he was motivated by a desire to plough back the money he earned into ordinary communities. "My thinking was built around those kids who would benefit from me making this decision, all these underprivileged kids that would get the millions and millions of dollars that I would receive. That was my whole motivation."

Yet he is still perceived by many to be greedy and egotistical? "Yeah, well, that's definitely how it's been projected. You can get angry but, you know, I'm satisfied when I go to those kids' clubs all over the United States that they don't forget the moment when their gymnasium was refurbished, or their library or media centre, and they went from big old computers to laptops. To be a part of those clubs makes me smile. As a professional athlete a lot is going to be said about you – but I just try to move forward and achieve my goals. You've got to go through the tornado to get to the clear weather. I feel we went through it and now we're headed on the right path."

James clearly does not need his "people" to protect him. He speaks as calmly here as he does when endorsing the London School of Basketball as a way of providing structure and focus to young British players and when plugging his latest Nike shoe, the LEBRON 9. Yet he has been sufficiently scarred to be evasively diplomatic about the lockout – which is a complicated wrangle between the owners and players over how they should split the $4bn (£2.5bn) revenue the NBA generates. The owners argue that, to increase the league's competitiveness, the players need to substantially reduce their current 57% claim. While agreeing to that demand the players have refused to go below 52% and have completely rejected the owners' stipulated 50-50 split.

We met last Monday when it briefly appeared as if a quick resolution might be realistic. "I believe it is," James said then. "It's a sensitive subject, but I've always been optimistic that there will be a season this year. Both sides know how important the game of basketball is. We know that the fans make the game. Without the fans there is no us."

Yet even then, before the latest breakdown of talks, it was easy to sense the owners digging in for a bitter battle. "I don't think anyone wants a long battle. I think both sides want to be fair to one another and try to figure out a deal. Right now it hasn't worked out but I believe that, with David Stern [the NBA commissioner] and the owners, and Billy Hunter on our side on the players' association, we will figure out a way."

When the most charming member of the LeBron entourage is sent over to tap her watch politely, I try to get King James to speak more plainly. What did he think of the American broadcaster Bryant Gumbel's accusation that Stern operates as "a modern plantation overseer" towards his multimillionaire players? "I didn't get the opportunity to sit down and watch the Bryant Gumbel piece so I can't really comment. I know, as a player, when I'm on the court, I try to play the best I can and represent the NBA the best I can."

This is James in full corporate flight but, nodding at me and all his people, it is also possible to believe he would rather be on court. "At the start of every season for the last eight years I've always known I've been going back to work. So this lockout has been difficult, really difficult, and for the simple fact that I love playing the game at a high level. I miss playing right now."

James even claims to miss the booing that usually trails him. "I miss it right now with the lockout, feeding off the opposing crowd and them booing you – in a good way. Some of 'em, they boo you because they don't like you personally – but they don't know you personally. They haven't had the opportunity to sit next to you. If they did, they might have a totally different idea about you."

Visit Nikebasketball.com and londonschoolofbasketball.com for more information on James's range of shoes and the London School of Basketball.