Miami Heat’s LeBron James, Phoenix Suns’ Eric Bledsoe are ‘very close’

Miami Heat forward LeBron James put Phoenix Suns’ guard Eric Bledsoe in his new commercial.

The reason? He says the two are very close.

“Very close,” James told Paul Coro of AZCentral.com “I’ve been knowing him since he was in high school. And then he went off to Kentucky. I have some great ties at Kentucky, so I had an opportunity to have a good relationship with him. It just stuck from there. We’re represented by the same guy, and we’re in the same company (Klutch Sports Group). He’s like a little brother of mine. I wish him the best getting back healthy. I know he misses the game, but Phoenix got a good one in having him.”

Not only is James friendly with Bledsoe, but he thinks he’s going to be an outstanding player.

“It (coming to Phoenix) allowed him to flourish, spread his wings. Obviously, he learned a lot under Chris Paul the last couple years. Coming here allowed him to use everything he got from Chris Paul and kind of do the things that he’s been learning over the last couple years and flourish. Up until the injury, he was showing what he was capable of doing. I know he’s excited to get back on the floor when he gets healthy.”

Before Bledsoe injured his knee, which he had surgery on on January 10, he was averaging 18.0 points, 5.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.