And believe it or not, it wouldn't have been for the Mavericks! The NBA went into a complete lockout in 2011 (after the Mavs' championship win) after the players association and the league couldn't come to terms on a few nuts and bolts in contract negotiations. During the time before the negotiations were settled, the NBA didn't play-on, and it was during this time that James toyed with the idea of picking up the football again.
He was All-State in High School, and a freak of an athlete anyway, so why not? Though James never fully went through the fans, he caught the attention of our very own Jerry Jones. James was an admitted Cowboys fan, so when Jones caught wind of James' "plan," he offered him a contract, this according to James' longtime friend and business parter Maverick Carter.
James last played organized football his junior year of high school, where as a wide receiver, he had 57 receptions for 1,160 yards and 16 touchdowns. A wrist injury in AAU basketball that summer forced him to forgo his senior season.