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NEW YORK (Reuters) - LeBron James led the underdog Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA finals last season and the 22-year-old known as "King James" is seeking to do even better with two crowns in 2008.

The dream double for James is to lead the Cavs to their first NBA title and help return the United States to hoops supremacy at the Beijing Olympics.

"I want to continue to grow as a leader," James told Reuters about his goals with the Cavaliers in a telephone interview on Thursday.

King James eyes NBA, Olympic crowns in 2008

"It's about becoming a better leader and leading our team. As an individual, as a basketball player, I want to keep on improving every summer.

"Can I lead my team to the promised land? I'm going to try and do that."

James was no less emphatic about his Olympic quest.

"I think it's a big challenge for us, and I think it's going to be a great experience trying to bring USA basketball back on top...to try to help change what's going on with the USA basketball team and bring it back to dominance."

The last 12 months have been busy for James, who followed his trip to the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs with duty on the U.S. team that won gold at its Olympic qualifying tournament. But the 6 foot 8 forward likes it that way.

"Definitely playing into June made the summer shorter," James said in a break from rehearsals for his hosting stint on the "Saturday Night Live" television show.

"It was the first time in my NBA career I played into June. It kind of cut into my summer but it was a great experience. Hopefully, I can always play into June."

James, who averaged 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in the regular season, led the Cavs to series wins over the Washington Wizards, New Jersey Nets and Detroit Pistons before the Spurs ended their run with a sweep in the finals.

In the FIBA Americas championship final, James scored 31 points, the most ever by a U.S player in an Olympic qualifier, in a 118-81 thumping of Argentina.

James said he did not feel worn out.

"I feel great. It was one of the best summers I ever had as an individual preparing for a new season. Physically, I'm fine and I'm ready to play another full season."

He said he was energized by his U.S. cohorts.

"It was a pleasure playing with those guys, it was exciting," said James, a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team that brought home bronze from Athens.

"No disrespect to any of my (NBA) team mates, or to any of those guys' team mates, but I know we'd love to play with each other all the time on the basketball court.

"It makes it easier when you have Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony, and guys like Dwight Howard can make the game a lot easier on you."

James said bitter Olympic lessons had been learned.

"We definitely underestimated the level of play," he said. "We understand how good these teams are and how good they can play basketball."

James said that although the Cavaliers did not make major changes in the off-season, he expected improvement.

"We have camaraderie, community and the same guys coming back. It's not going to take a training camp to learn a new system or anything like that. That's going to help us."