Cavaliers' LeBron James Calls This Year's Rookie Class 'Best Since 2003'

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be tasked with stopping an electrifying rookie in the Eastern Conference Finals after they finished their second-round sweep of the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

The question now is which rookie they will face.

Jayson Tatum's Boston Celtics lead Ben Simmons' Philadelphia 76ers 3-1 in the other Eastern Conference playoff series, and James recognized the talents of the two rookies (the Sixers drafted Simmons in 2016, but he missed that season to injury)—and the class as a whole that also features Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, among others—when discussing how it holds up against past classes:

The four-time MVP also had to face another talented rookie in OG Anunoby during the Raptors series. Anunoby was tasked with defending James for extended stretches, which is a difficult job for any player, let alone a rookie.

James notably joked about the 2003 class, which featured himself as the No. 1 pick, as well as other household names such as Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and David West.

This year's class still has some catching up to do when it comes to those names, but players such as Simmons, Mitchell, Tatum and Anunoby figure to be regulars in playoffs to come after this season's showing.