Report: LeBron’s agent strongly opposed trade to Warriors Originally appeared in NBC Bay Area Sports
LeBron James and Steph Curry Team USA couples at the Paris Olympics This summer only intensified basketball fans’ desire for the superstar duo. team up in the NBA.
While that reality remains a remote possibility, it doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any efforts made by the warriors.
Golden State He reportedly sought a blockbuster deal to acquire the four-time NBA MVP before last year’s trade deadline, but talks didn’t go very far.
That’s partly because James’ agent, Rich Paul, was “strongly” opposed to the idea of James trading Southern California for Northern California. Marc Stein, NBA contributor reported on his latest Substack, citing league sources.
Paul had concerns about how the NBA world would perceive his client if James left Los Angeles to join a fourth team in his career.
“Sources say Paul implored both teams to scrap the concept, despite some owner-to-owner dialogue between the Warriors’ Joe Lacob and the Lakers’ Jeanie Buss and Green’s determination to pressure James to push for a Bay Area relocation, in large part because he wanted to insulate James from potential backlash for changing teams for the fourth time in his career,” Stein wrote.
Aside from Paul’s role in the rapid unraveling of LeBron’s relationship with the Warriors, any chance of that concept being anything more than a basketball lover’s dream seems even more unlikely after James’ son, Bronny James, was drafted by the Lakers this summer and signed a four-year deal with the purple and gold.
And as long as Paul remains his agent, it’s increasingly likely that James will remain with the Lakers for the rest of his NBA career.
