Report: Rich Paul shut down Lakers-Warriors trade talks about LeBron James last season

There was a legitimate push last season for LeBron James to be a Golden State Warrior, according to a new report from independent NBA journalist Marc Stein.

Stein reported that trade discussions surrounding James got to a point where there were conversations between Warriors controlling owner Joe Lacob and his Los Angeles Lakers counterpart Jeanie Buss, along with a push from Warriors star and James’ friend Draymond Green to have the 39-year-old NBA icon consider a move up north.

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However, those talks never progressed beyond that, largely due to the influence of James’ longtime agent Rich Paul, who was “adamantly opposed to the idea” with James’ image in mind, according to Stein’s report.

“Sources say Paul implored both teams to scrap the concept … largely because he wanted to insulate James from potential backlash over switching teams for the fourth time in his career,” Stein wrote in an article published Sunday (via Bleacher Report).

ESPN reported after February’s NBA midseason trade deadline that Golden State had made a push to acquire James before the deadline, but the talks gained little traction once Buss told Lacob that the Lakers had no desire to trade James and referred him to Paul, who “resoundingly” told the Warriors that his superstar client had no interest either.

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Green even texted Paul, who is also his agent, about James’ potential interest in the Warriors and was quickly rebuffed, per the ESPN report. A similar trade inquiry from the Philadelphia 76ers was also reportedly flatly denied.

LeBron James and Warriors superstar Steph Curry still got a chance to play competitive games on the same team this summer when they led Team USA to a fifth straight Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball. James, the face of the team and United States national flag bearer at the Paris 2024 opening ceremonies, averaged 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game during the tournament.

He led the team in the latter two categories and would have led in scoring as well if not for Curry, whose heroic shooting performances in the semifinal against Serbia and gold medal game against host nation France were instrumental in Team USA’s success. Curry averaged 14.6 points per game in the tournament, finishing a hair above James.

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James now seems poised to finish out his NBA career with the Lakers, especially after Los Angeles drafted his son LeBron “Bronny” James Jr. in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft. LeBron and Bronny are set to become the first father-son duo to play on the same team together in NBA history.

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