LeBron James headed into the 2018 NBA offseason with the intention of finding his next NBA home. Most oddsmakers believed that he would sign with the Los Angeles Lakers when he opted out of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, Cavs fans held out hope that he might return to Cleveland while his agents even teased Philadelphia 76ers fans by meeting with their management team over the weekend. However, LeBron James spoke to two people before signing with the Lakers and they convinced him that L.A. was the place to be.

Kobe Bryant spoke to LeBron James

One of the first people to congratulate LeBron James after singing with the Los Angeles Lakers was Kobe Bryant. The future NBA Hall of Famer won five NBA Championships while playing with the Los Angeles Lakers. While LeBron has been to nine NBA Finals appearances, he has only won three NBA titles and hopes to someday match Kobe's five.

He will do that with the Lakers. Kobe welcomed LeBron to "the family" in a Twitter message but he spoke to LeBron personally before the signing. According to Sports Illustrated, Kobe spoke to James on the telephone and the two had a discussion about playing in Los Angeles.

Magic Johnson was the driving force

However, while Kobe Bryant surely pitched the idea of playing with the Los Angeles Lakers to LeBron James, it was Magic Johnson who was the driving force behind signing James.

USA Today said that Magic was the one who was able to convince James to sign with Los Angeles over the Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers.

LeBron James didn't meet with any teams when it comes to this decision, although he did speak to the Cavaliers general manager over the phone. With that said, he did meet with Magic Johnson personally.

Just like Kobe, Magic also win five NBA titles with the Lakers, but he had more to promise LeBron other than past success.

Whatever it was that Magic Johnson told LeBron James caused the superstar to choose his new team early. Rumor had it that James would wait until Tuesday, but right before he and his wife boarded a plane for a European vacation, James asked his agents to call the Los Angeles Lakers.

He had made his decision.

LeBron says goodbye to the Cavaliers

LeBron James knows that the Cleveland Cavaliers faithful will be disappointed in his decision. However, unlike the last time that he left Cleveland, this time he left them with an NBA Championship. He also left them with a message, saying goodbye and showing them respect.
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