Recent Los Angeles Lakers rumors involve LeBron James, who opened up about his free agency decision this offseason.
For months, Los Angeles Lakers rumors involved LeBron James potentially joining the team. When those Lakers rumors turned into a reality, fans were rightfully excited. However, the decision was not an easy one for James to make.
This is the second time that James has left his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers as a free agent. The first time, in 2010, he signed with the Miami Heat and had his infamous television spot on ESPN. This time around, it was a simple press release from his agency saying he had chosen the Lakers.
Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka landed their man. Ever since they took over the Lakers’ front office they wanted to bring star power back to Los Angeles. James brings as much star power as anyone in the league.
While the Lakers had been discussed as a potential landing spot for a long time, they were not the only team that was trying to land James.
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Recently, James had a sitdown with Rachel Nichols of ESPN during the opening of his foundation’s I Promise School. In that discussion, he revealed that leaving the Cavaliers was not an easy thing for him to do. He also let it be known that the Lakers were not the only team he considered.
According to James, the Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets were seriously considered.
"“I definitely thought long and hard about the possibilities of lining up alongside Ben [Simmons] and [Joel] Embiid, or lining up alongside [James] Harden and Chris [Paul],” he said. “I just felt like at this point in my career, the ultimate for me — just like when I went to Miami, everyone kind of looks at me joining a superteam, but if people look at it, I think Miami was [47-35] the year before I joined that team and you can look at the Lakers’ record — so I like the challenge of being able to help a team get to some place they haven’t been in quite a while. “Obviously, the Lakers haven’t made the playoffs in a few years, but the Lakers organization and the historical franchise matches up there with all the greats — you can look at the Cowboys, and you can look at the Patriots, you can look at Manchester United, the Boston Celtics — these are historical franchises and for me to be a part of that, I think it’s a great moment for not only me, but for my family and for the history of basketball in general.”"
While the Lakers have fallen on tough times in recent years, missing the playoffs for five consecutive seasons, James should change those fortunes right away.
James could have taken an easier route to challenge the Golden State Warriors. The Houston Rockets are arguably the closest team to knocking off the Warriors, and James could have put them over the top with Chris Paul and James Harden.
In Philadelphia, James would have remained in the weaker Eastern Conference. With James playing alongside two budding superstars, the 76ers could have ruled the Eastern Conference for years to come.
Instead, James decided to take up the challenge of leading the Lakers back to prominence. He will have a lot of help, as the Lakers have one of the best young cores in the NBA. They also added multiple hard-nosed, playoff-tested veterans to the mix to help push the youngsters to the next level.
In addition to his performance on the court, Los Angeles provides him opportunities off the court the other teams courting him just could not compete with. James has big plans for life after basketball and Los Angeles will help him achieve those goals.