If it feels like the LeBron James free agency saga has dragged on and on, it’s because it has. Free agency officially opened more than three weeks ago (June 30), and you can be sure LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul, had conversations with other teams before that (the NBA is a tampering league).
So when will his decision come? Paul would not give a timeline, speaking on the latest edition of his “Game Over” podcast with Max Kellerman (released Monday night).
“We’re not going to be rushed. We’re not going to be rushed. It’s his choice to make, and when he makes the choice, he’ll make it…
“I don’t know when his choice is going to be made, but it could be 48 seconds. It could be 48 minutes. I don’t know. Again, you can’t make somebody know something that they don’t know.”
Paul also pushed back on the idea that LeBron was in no hurry because he enjoys this spotlight and having the NBA waiting on his decision. Again. He said people trying to predict when the announcement will come down have no inside info, this is a process LeBron is still going through.
“I think it’s important for people to understand: We’re not making this about attention and a spectacle. It’s not about a ‘Decision’ or anything like that. He has a choice to make. He has a business choice to make… It’s a business choice that he’s making. And I think as an athlete, why is it that an athlete has to rush his choice?”
When asked if there’s a frontrunner for LeBron’s services next year, Paul said he had nothing he could say about that.
Cleveland, Miami and Philadelphia are the teams most discussed (Golden State and Minnesota are also in the mix), with league sources continuing to tell NBC Sports they believe he will return to the Cavaliers. But nobody really knows. It’s all just speculation until LeBron announces his decision.
And that will come whenever it comes. LeBron will not be rushed.
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