Report: Rich Paul broke off transfer talks between the Lakers and the Warriors about LeBron James last season
According to a new report by independent NBA journalist Marc Stein, there were legitimate efforts to turn LeBron James into a Golden State Warrior last season.
Stein reported that the James trade talks reached a point where talks between Warriors owner Joe Lacob and fellow Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss were taking place, and Warriors star and friend of James Draymond Green was urging the 39-year-old NBA icon to consider moving north.
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However, those talks never got beyond that, largely due to the influence of James’ longtime agent Rich Paul, who was “vigorously opposed to the idea” because he had James’ image in mind, according to Stein’s account.
“Sources say Paul pleaded with both teams to abandon the concept … primarily because he wanted to protect James from potential negative reactions if he changes teams for the fourth time in his career,” Stein wrote in an article published Sunday (via Bleacher Report).
ESPN reported after the NBA’s mid-season trade deadline in February that Golden State tried to sign James before the deadline, but talks failed to progress after Buss told Lacob that the Lakers had no interest in trading James and referred him to Paul, who “strongly” told the Warriors that his superstar client also had no interest.
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Green even texted Paul, who is also his agent, about James’ potential interest in the Warriors and was quickly rebuffed, according to ESPN’s report. A similar trade request from the Philadelphia 76ers was also reportedly flatly rejected.
LeBron James and Warriors superstar Steph Curry had another chance to play competitive games on the same team this summer, when they led Team USA to its fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball. James, the face of the team and the U.S. national flag bearer at the Paris 2024 opening ceremony, averaged 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game during the tournament.
He was the team’s best player in the latter two categories and would have led the scoring had it not been for Curry, whose heroic shooting performances in the semifinals against Serbia and in the gold medal game against host France were instrumental in the U.S. team’s success. Curry averaged 14.6 points per game in the tournament, just ahead of James.
(US Basketball’s 5 Best Olympic Moments: Is Steph Curry’s “Night Night” No. 1?)
James now appears ready to end his NBA career with the Lakers, especially after Los Angeles drafted his son, LeBron “Bronny” James Jr., in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft. LeBron and Bronny will be the first father-son duo in NBA history to play together on the same team.
LeBron James
Los Angeles Lakers
Golden State Warriors
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