Lakers Notes: LeBron, Magic, Roster

Much has been made of LeBron James‘ league-changing decision to leave the Cavaliers and sign with the Lakers. Whether it be a change of scenery where James can play a different style of basketball or simply lucrative opportunities in Hollywood, his decision has widespread impacts.

However, during an appearance on NBA TV, James’ longtime agent, Rich Paul, explained that his client choosing the Lakers was a “basketball decision” which made him happy, per USA TODAY.

“It was basically about what he wanted to do and what made him happy. And he earned that being in his 16th season,” Paul said. “You don’t have athletes in their 16th season be the No. 1 free agent.”

 James, entering his age 34 season, is coming off arguably his best campaign to date. The former four-time NBA Most Valuable Player averaged 27.5 PPG, 9.1 APG, and 8.6 RPG while playing in all 82 regular season games for the first time in his career. James then led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals for the fourth straight season but was ultimately unsuccessful in defeating the reigning champions.
While playing in Hollywood will undoubtedly open new doors for James, Paul said that was not the main factor in his decision.”
People say, ‘Well, it’s about movies, it’s about this.’ It’s LeBron James. He’s already a global entity, so it wasn’t necessarily about that,” Paul said.
Check out more LeBron-related Lakers notes below:
  • Magic Johnson‘s one-on-one meeting with James is what sealed his decision to sign with Los Angeles and the Lakers’ president discussed how that meeting unfolded, USA TODAY’s Sam Amick writes. Johnson described himself and James as mirror images of one another in terms of “championship DNA” and a focus on winning.  “He was really happy that Rob [Pelinka] and I were not rushing, not making mistakes by rushing, and I told him that we had a three-year plan, we had a plan that we wanted to execute and that he could really take that plan to a whole ‘nother level,” Johnson said.
  • Johnson also said that the Lakers will consult with James on signings and trades, as his input and experience holds a lot of value, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk writes. “We’re gonna go to LeBron and say if there’s a deal to be made for guys available, we’ll say to him, ‘What do you think about this guy? You know him. You play against him. You know the backstory and everything about the guy.'” Johnson said.
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