Rich Paul revealed that LeBron James rode an emotional roller coaster before arriving at a decision as a free agent. James has decided to join Philadelphia 76ers for the next edition of the NBA after he decided to part ways with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Paul, the CEO of Klutch Sports Group, confirmed that James was considering among Philadelphia, Cleveland, Miami and Golden State.
James has previously played for Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.
“You can see from the end of the season … the emotional attachments and how hard it is to go away from a Miami and go away from a Cleveland,” Paul said on his “Game Over” podcast with Max Kellerman. “Who wouldn’t want to play with Steph Curry and Draymond Green. I’m seeing the emotional roller coaster every single day.
“… Home is home [in Cleveland]. Miami is Miami. It’s Pat [Riley]. … I think that everyone was at some point leading the race.”
Paul said the decision to join the 76ers made more sense after Philadelphia roped in Jaylen Brown in a trade with the Boston Celtics on July 1.
“Ultimately, Philadelphia makes a move and then boom! Now you got Jaylen Brown,” Paul said. “Now hold on, wait a minute now. This looks a lot different.”
Paul added that James can help everybody at the Sixers as he can play as a secondary playmaker.
“I think he helps everybody on that team,” Paul said. “When you talk about a secondary playmaker, if [James is] your secondary playmaker, you have the best secondary playmaker in the league. He helps Tyrese in terms of pick-and-roll action. … I think Nick Nurse can take a little page out of Ty Lue’s book and use Tyrese as the screener. When you talk about a guy like VJ Edgecombe, he definitely helps him.
“… When you add a LeBron, everything changes. That is why it is not easy for someone who is [deemed] to be a star player on a team, when he comes, he kind of shows you how big or little of a star you actually are. It takes a special kind of person to mentally embrace that. The familiarity with him and Tyrese, you don’t have to worry about that with Tyrese. They know each other, they embrace each other, they have been working out together for the last five years. So you won’t have any pushback. You can’t pay for that. You can’t put a value on that.”
James will look to be at his best in the upcoming season.
