On the basketball court, LeBron James is a hero to his fans because he led the LA Lakers to win after win. But off the court, another basketball great, Carmelo Anthony, sees James as a hero for an entirely different reason. Anthony says James saved his life.

With the coronavirus pandemic suspending the NBA season and forcing people to stay indoors, Anthony and Dwyane Wade found some extra time on their hands. So the two took to Instagram Live to talk about everything from their mutual love for wine to their favorite memories of the late Kobe Bryant.

But around 30 minutes into the conversation, actress Gabrielle Union, Wade’s wife, chimed in and asked Anthony to tell the story of when they were in the Bahamas and “it didn’t look like you were going to make it.”

“That s— got me sweating thinking about that,” Anthony said before diving into the story.

Anthony said the group of friends jumped off a boat and swam to a “little grotto” in the water. While everyone swam back up to the boat, Anthony said he stayed back to “see the last bit of the barracudas snorkeling and all that.”

“Then I look up and the current is taking me in the middle of the ocean opposite from the boat,” Anthony said, while admitting that “it was my fault.”

Wade said the rest of the group couldn’t see him and Anthony added that it was windy.

“All types of s— was going on through my head,” Anthony said. “Then I look up at the boat, and I see ‘Bron jumps off the boat like he’s MacGyver. He jumps off the boat into the water. He was bringing me back with one arm. He’s swimming with the other arm.”

“I’ve seen LeBron do a lot of amazing things on the court,” Wade said. “Off the court, when he went and saved Melo’s life.”

“That was special. … He saved my life.” Anthony echoed. “Yo ‘Bron, I appreciate that. You saved my life that day. Them little flippers wasn’t working for me.”

So on top of his three NBA championships, we can now add “saved Carmelo Anthony’s life” on James’ long list of accomplishments.

.

.

.

.