Channing Frye played for six teams — the Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers — during his time in the NBA, and like anyone who’s played that long and for a large number of teams, he was fortunate enough to play alongside some terrific players and people.
One X user asked Frye to name the best teammate that he ever had not named Richard Jefferson, and Frye responded by rattling off seven names. Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Kevin Love, James Jones, J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson and Quentin Richardson were all mentioned.
Grant hill, James jones, Kevin love, Steve Nash, Tristan thompson, jr, and q rich https://t.co/oPTEFWe4Wj
— Channing Frye (@channingfrye) May 23, 2025
But one name stands out in particular that didn’t make Frye’s list. He didn’t mention LeBron James, who might just be the best player Frye ever played with.
Frye partly has James to thank for the fact that he retired from the NBA following the 2018-19 season with a championship on his resume. He won a championship while playing for the Cavaliers in 2016, but the Cavaliers likely wouldn’t have won it all without the excellence of James, who averaged 26.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game in the 2016 NBA Playoffs.
Frye did play for some solid teams before he joined the Cavaliers, but none of them got over the championship hump.
Notably, he played on a Suns team that won 54 games in the 2009-10 season and then advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals in the 2010 NBA Playoffs. The Suns gave Kobe Bryant and the Lakers just about all they could handle in the Western Conference Finals, but they ultimately lost in six games to the storied franchise.
For as curious as it is that James was left off Frye’s list of his best teammates, folks shouldn’t put too much stock into the omission or be concerned about the relationship that the former teammates have. After all, Frye played with so many players that maybe James’ name simply didn’t come to mind while he was writing the X post.