Much has been made of LeBron James‘ league-changing decision to leave the Cavaliers and sign with the Lakers. Whether it be a change of scenery where James can play a different style of basketball or simply lucrative opportunities in Hollywood, his decision has widespread impacts.
However, during an appearance on NBA TV, James’ longtime agent, Rich Paul, explained that his client choosing the Lakers was a “basketball decision” which made him happy, per USA TODAY.
“It was basically about what he wanted to do and what made him happy. And he earned that being in his 16th season,” Paul said. “You don’t have athletes in their 16th season be the No. 1 free agent.”
While playing in Hollywood will undoubtedly open new doors for James, Paul said that was not the main factor in his decision.”
People say, ‘Well, it’s about movies, it’s about this.’ It’s LeBron James. He’s already a global entity, so it wasn’t necessarily about that,” Paul said.
Check out more LeBron-related Lakers notes below:
- Magic Johnson‘s one-on-one meeting with James is what sealed his decision to sign with Los Angeles and the Lakers’ president discussed how that meeting unfolded, USA TODAY’s Sam Amick writes. Johnson described himself and James as mirror images of one another in terms of “championship DNA” and a focus on winning. “He was really happy that Rob [Pelinka] and I were not rushing, not making mistakes by rushing, and I told him that we had a three-year plan, we had a plan that we wanted to execute and that he could really take that plan to a whole ‘nother level,” Johnson said.
- Johnson also said that the Lakers will consult with James on signings and trades, as his input and experience holds a lot of value, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk writes. “We’re gonna go to LeBron and say if there’s a deal to be made for guys available, we’ll say to him, ‘What do you think about this guy? You know him. You play against him. You know the backstory and everything about the guy.'” Johnson said.
Remeber last year when he was hired, people were saying Magic wont lure stars….
Yeah but this was an easy sign. It was more about them (Lakers/Magic) bot doing something to turn him off. More telling tho, is not being able to lure the guys from the LA area that were assumed to be easy locks (Russ, PG, etc).
in all fairness, LBJ realistically only had 3 places he could go. Back to Cleveland, Lakers or arrange a sign and trade with Houston. Magic had little to do with the decision. like he said in the article, all they had to do to get him in LA is not make mistakes by rushing him to decide.
Magic didn’t bring George or Cousins.
George apparently was not wanted in La. He’s a great player and an All-Star but he’s not a difference-maker in the fourth quarter of a playoff game.
Cousins is coming off an injury… won’t be ready till February.
Kawhi Leonard is the only player they still need to aquire. Consider it done, essentially.
I’m not so sure whether they really did or did not want Paul George, but I do know that they didn’t want Cousins..
Pelinka and Magic stated that if they were going to sign someone, then they wanted that player to be ready from DAY 1, and since Cousins wouldn’t be ready for at least a month or two after the season starts, they passed on him..
What are you talking about? Lakers got hit with tampering charges because they were blatantly talking as if PG coming to LA with the “wink, wink” comment on Kimmel. It cost the Lakers $500k.
Also, the idea of any team this devoid of stars other than LBJ would be dismissed because he doesn’t have a great playoff legacy is silly. You still need stars to get you to the final. If you need a closer, look at LBJ.
I do not understand just admitting it was a lifestyle decision. Absolutely nothing wrong with coming to LA to make the wife & kids happy. They followed Lebron to Miami & back. Now they would like to be in LA as a family. Bravo …..The propaganda starts about How Magic & Rob did this & that to swing the deal. I call super B.S. on all of that lies & deceit. My friends sons and I watch NBA, poker & horse racing together ( bringing them up correctly) and they told me last September Lebrons kids had registered for school in LA. I was floored as I never thought he would leave automatic Eastern conference Finals for last what 13 or 15 years. I quietly thought NO Way but listened. ( I also knew these were hip, dialed in young twenties types who to parties with Blake G when he was in Town) Then I heard about Lebron not telling Paul George he would stay to play in Clev if he came in a Love trade and it started making sense. Although just registering kids was no guarantee I knew they were right and started telling people Lebron was coming, no one believed me. The main point is Lebron knew he was coming here a full year ago at least and Magic & Rob had nothing to do with it except say sign here please and who do you want us to get to play with you like Griffin did in Clev. He did win a chip but left them in a poor state with TT & JR deals. P.S I won a nice bottle of French Bordeaux on the Lebron to LA wager. 1997 Chateau Papa Clement it was delicious. ”Magic meeting seals the deal” No Way lies & deceit
Hate to waste that registration money. Whole fam gotta move!
James decided to leave CLE when he realized Altman was never going to fix anything without making it worse. I guess it could have been last September, after the Irving trade.
Moral of the story if your kids who go to parties say Lebron is coming to your city that means Lebron is coming to your city
Moral of the story is nobody is buying LeBron lies.
LOL
How funny people saying he is in LA for Hollywood, as the article mentioned, LBJ is the most well known, popular & famous sportsman in the world, probably ever, even in countries where basketball isn’t a popular, followed sport, everyone knows about, LBJ. So simply Hollywood cannot do anything to make him more famous or richer really.
Also I disagree with Paladin, he has left Cleveland in as good as a position they could have had, all the bad contracts are for this year, so JR is actually a positive asset like Hill to trade, also Korver, K-Love is a star in his own right, so next year they will have plenty of cap room, a high pick from the draft plus Sexton… I think it looks way too good compared with 2011 season, so he has done all he could to leave Cleveland in a good place, the man is a legend.
No, but LeBron is a very busy man, and it does make him easier to access or work on a project when he lives in LA, as opposed to living in Ohio..
So while everyone does know LeBron, he’s had to turn down countless opportunities, because he didn’t have time to travel to LA to work and meet in person on those projects…
Personally, I truly believe LeBron feels deep down he can win with the Lakers..Idk whether or not he thinks he can win a title, but I know he fully believes he can help take that team to the conference finals..
However, I also think, he can see the end of his illustrious basketball career coming within 4-5 seasons..With that being said, he’s looking to capitalize on his star power in LA now, and he’s looking to build connects to have an extremely successful business plan when his career ends..By him moving to LA now, it’ll make him more accessible to the countless of opportunities he’s wanted to pursue..
Basketball just was not his primary motivation for moving to LA..But making LA relevant again, it’ll only help his star power, and he knows this going in..This was a business decision, Miami was a basketball decision, and coming back to Cleveland was a decision made by a heart-driven, focused man on a mission..
ANYONE who thinks otherwise, well you are just kidding yourself, or for whatever reason you’re being delusional..
Dude you are totally delusional. LBJ has a great inner circle and they handle all the meetings and loop LBJ in. I know one member of his team and he himself handles tremendous responsibilities. LBJ DOES NOT MISS ANY MONEY because he doesn’t live in LA 365 days of the year. The idea of that is absurd (not attacking you). I myself do business with entertainers for over a decade and never had to be in the same room to get it done.
LA’s relevance may end up being a franchise that looks foolish thinking bringing an aging star will bring credibility.
We’ll see!
LB just had the one of the best seasons of his 15 year career. As long as he stays healthy, even at 75% of what he is now, he would still be a top 5-8 player in the NBA.
Bringing Lebron in isn’t necessarily all about winning a championship. Laker fans are also happy that team will finally be relevant again. This will hopefully lead to more signings in the future, plus Magic and Pelinka have littered this team with great value draft picks that are building a strong young core around the “aging” superstar.