LeBron James shrugged off accusations of tampering involving Pelicans star Anthony Davis last night, then emphasized the point by meeting Davis for a post-game meal, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
James led the Lakers to a win in his first meeting with Davis since saying earlier this week that he would be “amazing” to have as a teammate. Some small-market GMs objected to James’ comments and a league-wide trend of players in big cities openly recruiting other stars, but James dismissed their concerns after Friday’s game.
“They can’t control me at all,” he told reporters. “And I play by the rules.”
Rumors that Davis might eventually join the Lakers began to grow this summer as LeBron signed in L.A. and Davis abandoned his former agency in favor of Klutch Sports, which also represents James.
Davis is eligible for a potential record-setting contract next summer through the Designated Player Veteran Extension that could be worth up to as much as $239.54MM over five seasons. The Pelicans will surely make the offer, but there’s no guarantee Davis will accept. He has a player option in 2020, so New Orleans could be in the position of having to make a trade to avoid the risk of losing him with no return.
Davis hasn’t given an indication of which way he’s leaning on the DPVE, but said the ability to compete for a title will have a greater impact on his decision than cash.
“I’d take legacy over money,” Davis said after Friday’s game. “I want to have a legacy. All my people that look up to me, the younger kids, I want them to know about AD’s legacy. Championships, the things I do in the community, being a good teammate, playing hard. All that stuff matters the most to me. Don’t get me wrong, money is amazing. But I think in that sense, money or legacy, I think my legacy will win that battle every time.”
Davis has only reached the playoffs twice since the Pelicans drafted him in 2012. They were swept in the first round in 2015 and knocked out in the second round last season. With a 15-18 record this year, there’s no guarantee of another postseason trip.
In public comments, Davis has remained very supportive of the Pelicans, frequently mentioning his ties to the New Orleans community. However, sources tell Haynes that he has received advice to eventually move on from players on other teams and even a few of his teammates.
Haynes describes Davis as “intrigued” at the thought of playing in Los Angeles, where he bought a $7.5MM house over the summer.
Lakers fans did their best to encourage Davis by giving him a standing ovation during pre-game introductions. He recently got a similar welcome from Boston, which appears to be L.A.’s main competition if the Pelicans ever decide to trade Davis.
Queen James plays by his own set of rules established by his stooge Adam Silver.
Bingo
Actually James is getting bullied by so-called “small-market GMs”; Silver just hasn’t joined in.
Ding ding ding.
Please show me examples of where any player has been punished for tampering. Giannis literally said the same stuff about AD last week but no one is crying about it.
LeBron also has to realize that the Pelicans must be willing to trade Davis to them. The more he pisses them off, the less likely they will. If the Lakers have to wait until 2020, they’ll have to do 1 year contracts again this summer, and hope they have cap space in 2020. Go Warriors!
So you starting to see why lakers are gonna get ad? Meeting, same agent and has a house here. Commenting on lakers players ig and friends with kuzma.
If Lonzo continues with the terrible shooting & weak defense like Sunday night against the Griz he won’t have any trade value and Celtics will claim the Prize (AD) with better players and better draft picks. Danny Ainge already beat Magic in picking Tatum over Zo in 17 draft and putting together a batter package for AD will be kid stuff for Danny Boy. Ainge is playing chess while Magic & Pelinka play checkers. He will beat them again….
What about Celtics? Or are you a Bucks Raptors warriors fan now?
Celtics and Pacers. All I care about is seeing somebody beat LeBron. Can’t wait until New Orleans refuses to trade AD, and the Lakers get zero free agents. It’ll happen. General managers don’t like the Lakers. Four years of no LeBron in the Finals. Yay!!
From LeBron’s comments this week, and all the money the NFL is making, the NBA owners need to stand up like the NFL owners and tell LeBron where to put it.
Talking about he said the NFL owners are just a bunch of old white dudes treating the players like slaves. If it weren’t for these old white dudes, LeBron wouldn’t be worth $765mm. LeBron wants to be an owner some day. The other owners will never vote him in.
Your comments are long!
This is must read material.
old white NFL owners are the LeBron is rich?
Sources: Lebron had steak and garlic potatoes
He couldn’t have, James is a vampire
LeBron James shrugged off accusations of tampering involving Pelicans star Anthony Davis
I don’t think it’s tampering, but as competitor how in the world can you eat dinner with the opposition? SMH
ALso, if Davis is worried about a legacy, how in the world can you have a legacy on someone else’s coattails?
Davis better figure out if he can lead the Pelicans to the Promised Land, the clock is ticking
LeBron has never won a title by himself. Honestly, I can’t think of anyone who has. That includes Jordan. He’s the GOAT, no question, but he wouldn’t have six rings without his HoF compadre, Scottie Pippen.
Nowitzki did it dude!
Dirk had a great supporting cast! What are you talking about? They were loaded! Kidd, Marion, Stevenson, Butler, Chandler, Peja, Barea, Terry,
Yeah jbl idk if barea falls into the “great” category, or are you just naming rosters
They should have gone to Pacific Dining Car on 6th Street.
Why do people think LeBron has ethics to follow the rules? I’m sure he paid for his tattoos and the Hummer he had in high school from money he saved from having a paper route.
Lol mad about what a man in his thirties did as a kid. Jealous much?
Just saying he does what he wants regardless of rules.
Also LeBron hasn’t broken any rules but it’s interesting how few people can manage to understand tampering rules.
The NBA is very lax in enforcing its rules.
James the GM just doing what he does. Now we get to hear about his BS 24/7 now he is in LA. NOBODY CARES
James and Davis can have dinner with whoever, whenever they want to. AD & Irving is said to have a friendship– if thet haven’t had dinner yet, they will. Anyone want to complain about that?
This will be a most interesting battle between James and Irving, but any results won’t happen for 8 or 20 months, if at all.
Irving will hightail it out of there by then. He’ll leave at seasons end, with the way he spoke about the team, it’s depth, lack of heart and questioning specific players morals earlier in the week. If that’s not an exit route for him, then I do not know what is.
Yes he’s no guarantee to stay. . . or to be wanted at max. Those words though, that could just be an attempt at leadership. He’s not a natural at it & probably waited too long to try.
Pels can ignore all the noise if they just hold to their word and not trade AD, whether he takes the DPVE or not. Small market GMs should agree among themselves on this, and the nonsense will stop. In every CBA since 2011, they’ve been given everything they asked for to not be forced to trade their stars. But its moot if they are going to cave when a guy demands a trade.
Agreed, what else do these teams want? They already generally get to keep first round draft picks for basically 8+ years and will continue to have advantages to resigning them down the road.
It’s not the Lakers/Knicks fault that the Pelicans couldn’t put a contender around AD. The Bucks and Nuggets have put great teams around their stars without being a large market. The Warriors aren’t winning because they’re a large market.
Big question what did AD order?
I think it’d be bigger news it LeBron took AD for mani/pedi’s and an eyebrow wax