LeBron James shares he was unaware of rumors regarding potential trade to Golden State
LeBron James is about as in the know as any player in or that has ever been in the NBA. That apparently wasn’t the case at the trade deadline, though, with his own name reportedly having been on the block.
During an appearance on ‘Inside The NBA’ ahead of the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, James spoke about the rumors regarding a potential deal between Los Angeles and Golden State at the deadline that would have made him a Warrior. He said that he had no knowledge of those discussions taking place until the reports came out. To him, that says a lot about how far along that they ever actually got.
“It didn’t go far at all, you know. I actually heard about it when everybody else heard about it,” said James.
That’s just the way of things when it comes to business in sports leagues, including the association. Those conversations can happen but, in this case, it must not have gotten much traction if James didn’t know anything about it.
“Obviously, Charles (Barkley) has been in the league, Kenny (Smith) been in the league, Shaq been in the league. Sometimes? There’s conversations happening behind closed doors that you don’t even know about. Until, I guess, it’s real or not? Then they’ll bring it to you,” said James. “But it never even got to me so I heard it when the reporters dropped it as well.”
James, at 39 years old, is in the midst of his 21st season in the NBA and sixth with LA. He is averaging 24.8 points, 7.8 assists, and 7.2 rebounds over his 49 games this year. As of tonight, that was good enough to earn him a 20th selection as an All-Star – a new record for any player in the history of the event.
A game and a half separates Los Angeles (30-26) and Golden State (27-26) record-wise in the Western Conference. The Lakers are ninth while the Warriors are 10th with both residing in the Play-In Tournament portion of the standings.
For Los Angeles, a trade of James would have ensured that the franchise would have gotten something back for him if he were to decline his player option this offseason. As for Golden State, a deal would have brought two of the sports all-time greats, James and Stephen Curry, together. Both would then have had a chance at at least one more title with both over the age of 35.
However, while this deal didn’t happen now, some suggest that the two sides could discuss the deal again come the offseason.
Many often see James as one that pulls strings with his respective team as well as his career in general. That’s why it comes as a surprise that he, whether speaking truthfully or not, wouldn’t have know about a trade of this magnitude.