LeBron James Says He Has '3 Very Good Friends' in the NBA, Rest Are 'Teammates'

A lot has been made about the relationship between Cleveland Cavaliers teammates LeBron James and Kevin Love lately. However, that might just all be mindless talk because there aren't many people in the league that James considers to be "very good friends." 

Even if it may seem like he has created a good bond with some of his Cavaliers teammates, that's all he considers them to be. Teammates.

Last week, James posted a "Clique Up!!" photo of him and some of his Cavaliers teammates, with Love being a notable exclusion. A day later, Love went on ESPN's Mike & Mike last week and talked about his relationship with James. Love grabbed some headlines during the interview by admitting that he and James were not "best friends."

All of this talk about relationships may be meaningless. James recently revealed, via Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, that there are only a few players in the NBA that he would consider to be his "very good friends":

"

People get so infatuated with the best of friends, things of that nature. First of all, I've got three very good friends in this league, and that's Carmelo (Anthony), and that's C.P. (Chris Paul), and that's D-Wade. And after that I have a bunch of teammates. I have guys I ride for every day.

But Kyrie is a guy I understand how important he is to this team, how important he is. And the same with Kev as well.

"

Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

Even if he doesn't consider any of his current teammates to be his "very good friends," the Cavaliers superstar knows that everyone shows up to work for the same reason.

"Friends or no friends, at the end of the day we're all here to do one thing, and that's to win," James said.

Whether or not James and Love are friends doesn't seem to matter to the two players. They will both show up and give it their all in order to try to win a championship. However, as Love approaches free agency this summer, the relationship between the two stars is going to be talked about more than ever.

Of course, if the Cavaliers win the championship this season, some of this talk about the tension that exists between James and Love will go away. Because winning is all that matters in the NBA.

[h/t USA Today's For The Win]