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The Los Angeles Lakers have seemed like the overwhelming favorites to sign LeBron James for the last week or even longer, with both Las Vegas odds and nearly all of the available NBA free agent rumors pointing towards The King taking over Los Angeles.
Only reinforcing that is the latest report from Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer, because while he makes it sound like not everyone is convinced James will end up signing with the Lakers, there are some that think it’s a done deal (emphasis mine):
Yes, the Lakers are still favorites—but not total locks—to sign LeBron James, league sources say. For what it’s worth, some executives believe LeBron’s indecision is all theater, and he has already decided on the Lakers as his new team.
James already deciding on joining the purple and gold would line up with a lot of the scuttlebutt that has been around all year, with his plenty of interests beyond the court pushing him towards L.A. and everything it can offer him, a narrative reinforced by a simple tweet from his production company “The Undefeated” yesterday:
#MoreThanAnAthlete pic.twitter.com/nhzsUSSpn7
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) June 30, 2018
All of those words on that jersey seem to describe LeBron James. Not to read too deeply into a nondescript tweet, but this type of narrative-building could be early efforts to start the explanation for why he would choose the Lakers over the team closest to his hometown.
As a father, James might be choosing L.A. for his son’s basketball interests. As an entrepreneur and storyteller, the move could jumpstart those off-court interests in Los Angeles. And so on and so forth.
Now, it’s fair to point out that said tweet could mean anything, and is hardly direct evidence that James is coming to Los Angeles. However, there are just so many signs — with O’Connor’s report being the latest — pointing towards James becoming a Laker that it’s hard to take away any other conclusions right now, even if other suitors are getting involved.
You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.