Coming into free agency, LeBron James was once again the biggest fish on the market. Over the last couple of seasons, he had been signing one-plus-one deals with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but this offseason was different.
Everyone had a feeling that James would leave Cleveland, with Lakers being his top destination. Back in 2010, LeBron made his decision on a live ESPN show titled, “The Decision,” where he was highly criticized for publically humiliating his hometown of Cleveland and jumping the ship to join superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach.
In 2014, James announced his decision by writing an essay titled, “I’m Coming Home,” where he discussed his four seasons in Miami, and that he is coming back to Cleveland to fulfill his promise. In 2018, a much older and mature LeBron James had a different way of announcing his decision.
LeBron James’ text message to Rob Pelinka revealed
Instead of a live decision or an essay, LeBron James agents texted the Los Angeles Lakers to inform them of his decision. James' people simply texted Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka, saying “Congrats.” The text also included balloon emojis.
In his old age, LeBron is not as flashy anymore when it comes to his free agency decision. He has done this a couple of times before, and it was simply getting played out.
Therefore, he decided to go with a short and sweet text message.
James’ decision based on family and business
When LeBron James decided to go to Miami, his focus was purely on winning a championship. It was a decision made for his career, to build a legacy. When he returned to Cleveland, it was to fulfill a promise he made to the franchise when he was drafted – to bring a championship to a city that had never tasted one.
However, his decision to go to Los Angeles was for himself, his family and businesses.
James wants to be close to Hollywood where after he retires he can continue with Showbiz. He also has plenty of businesses in L.A., so living in the City of Angels gives him an advantage.
Most importantly, James made this decision for his family.
His son will be attending high school in Los Angeles and will probably go to a college in the area. Putting his son in the L.A. spotlight is very smart because he will get a lot of media attention, which will help his draft stock in the near future.
LeBron James has had three different decisions as a free agent throughout his career and has had a different motive for each one. As he enters the very late stages of his prime, it will be interesting to see how James performs on the court now that he is under the L.A. spotlight.
