Well, if you were hoping for a resolution in the LeBron James sweepstakes, it doesn’t appear you’re getting it soon.
But if you’re holding out hope The King eventually chooses to play for the Sixers, you were provided a glimmer of hope Wednesday morning.
Bob Myers, who is the president of sports for HBSE and hired president of basketball operations Mike Gansey, was a guest on Rich Paul’s show Game Over on Netflix. The two have an existing friendship, Paul noted, surely crossing paths many times over
their respective careers.
First, we have to get out of the way that this is unprecedented — a current executive (I know not technically a direct executive) talking to a current agent openly about a player for the world to see. On some levels, it’s cool for them to be this transparent, but it’s also a little strange.
You have to give Myers credit here. When Paul asked him to do this, he likely didn’t hesitate. This by no means is an indicator LeBron is coming here and it ultimately might not help — but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Myers acquitted himself well on there, making the Sixers look serious about their pitch to LeBron without being condescending to Paul or the audience.
It felt like host Max Kellerman was hoping to turn this into a recruitment circus and Myers never took the bait. He just kept reiterating he believed the Sixers gave LeBron his chance to win while continuing to make it clear James has already weighed these things and nothing Myers is going to say on this show is going to be the thing that sways the decision. Myers repeatedly complimented LeBron’s knowledge of the league and its players — again, couldn’t hurt.
Myers also took a question about newest Sixer Jaylen Brown, in which he reminded everyone a crucial member of his championship Golden State Warriors wasn’t an analytics darling: Klay Thompson.
Again, Myers deserves respect for doing this and acquitting himself well. He made the Sixers sound like a serious organization that’s ready to win. It was refreshing.
This, of course, comes on the heels of ESPN’s Shams Charania essentially narrowing James’ list down to three teams: the Sixers, Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers.
This whole saga has given me Godfather III vibes.
Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.
