‘ free agency has officially stretched into its fourth week, as James allowed the World Cup to come to a close to clear the stage for his decision to take top billing in the sports world. While the expectation is that the will know where LeBron will be playing his 24th season soon, it’s possible this stretches out a bit further. After doing multiple live shows late last week without offering so much as a hint about his future destination, James insisted he wouldn’t make fans wait too much longer.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver even admitted that the league is hoping to know James’ destination soon because where he signs impacts how the league will make its schedule, as James’ team — whether it be the Cavaliers, Heat, 76ers, Warriors, Timberwolves or someone else — will get more national TV games.
On Tuesday, Rich Paul dropped the latest episode of his “Game Over” podcast and poured a bit of cold water on the league’s hopes that an announcement would be imminent.
“I saw Adam [Silver] in New York and we discussed it, and like I said, it’s still [LeBron’s] choice. But if he doesn’t really know, you can’t rush it,” Paul said. “We’re not going to be rushed. It doesn’t matter. I don’t wanna sit here and sound like this — I’ll just say, we’re not going to be rushed. It’s his choice to make and when he makes the choice he’ll make it.”
Paul made that clear multiple times, noting they won’t be rushed, and it would be on James’ timeline — while also noting that anyone who claims to have inside information or a scoop on where LeBron is going to end up is lying.
“I’ll say it again, none of these people know anything. Nobody knows nothing, and I say that respectfully because we haven’t made it to where anybody knows anything,” Paul said. “So, I think it’s important for people to understand, we’re not making this about attention or the spectacle — it’s not about a decision or anything like that. He has a choice to make. He has a business choice to make. We’re not going to sit here and decide or allow someone to decide when he makes that choice.”
Proclaiming “we’re not making this about attention or the spectacle” is a pretty ironic thing for Paul to say on his ninth podcast episode since LeBron hit free agency and coming off a weekend where LeBron did three separate live event appearances.
Then there’s the part about “nobody knows nothing,” which pokes at the many people who have tried and failed to predict what James will do and tease out an announcement, only for LeBron to let dates come and go without saying a word. The latest of those was ex-NBA player , who proclaimed a LeBron decision was coming on Monday, only for that not to be the case.
As for the insistence that James won’t be rushed into a decision, that feels like James is reminding the NBA that things still revolve around him, even 24 seasons into his career. That he can hold up a schedule release and keep teams on the hook for three weeks certainly reads like a statement, no matter what Paul says.
At some point, James will make his announcement and the league can move forward with the rest of its offseason, but for one last summer, James has been able to exert his power and make teams — and the league — sweat out his final decision.
