Rich Paul traveled to Wimbledon to co-host a podcast appearance and, because of the venue’s strict rules on electronics, stepped into the Polo by Ralph Lauren store to call Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka to inform him that LeBron James would pursue his career elsewhere, Paul told ESPN.
For the week leading up to free agency, neither James’ camp nor the Lakers exchanged formal or informal offers, according to sources. The sides had not discussed a shared vision for the future and had not met face-to-face, either in person or virtually, ESPN reported.
The Lakers called Paul a week before free agency to try to arrange a videoconference with James and were told he was unavailable. Paul told ESPN the reason was that James had already decided he did not want to return to Los Angeles and that there was no need for a call. Paul said James was by then “a thousand percent” certain he was ready to move on, a notable change from a few weeks earlier when James told Paul he was “80 percent” sure he’d play another season with the Lakers.
Sources close to James told ESPN that how the Lakers approached him after the season would be the most important factor in his decision. Those sources said James might have accepted a pay cut from the $52.6 million he earned the prior season if the Lakers had explained how they planned to reallocate that salary slot; the Lakers did not, and James did not make himself available to meet.
The Lakers handled other free-agent discussions differently. After an initial videoconference with Austin Reaves, the team staged an elaborate in-person pitch at its facility — including customized pillows and blankets, steaks and the player’s preferred country music — and Reaves later agreed to a four-year, $185 million deal, ESPN reported.
Paul suggested several factors that may have shifted James’ thinking, including a 10-day European trip to commemorate the 2016 NBA title that underscored the contrast between recent Lakers experience and championship environments. ESPN also reported that Los Angeles declined to offer James an extension as it had in the past while presenting a plan to Luka Doncic and his representation that envisioned using James’ $52.6 million slot to pursue younger, complementary pieces; the team did not make clear whether that future would include James.
