Inglewood, California – The man who prides himself on seeing the game Two Plays Ahead could not see the biggest pass without look in the history of the NBA, because LeBron James always seemed in a state of shock following Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis trade.
You could say that James would be also offbeat and intrigued, twinned with a talent like Dončić but shipping Davis, the player James helped bring to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2019 – the player who gave James a new lease to life to life The time, the player who helped James to become champion for the fourth time.
“I saw everything … until it,” said James. “I have never been part of a transaction like that. It was different.
The word “transaction” feels so sterile, from the point of view of James. For Lakers, it’s a matter and they found their new money manufacturer. For James, losing Davis was more than a simple transaction – both got closer to their stay in Los Angeles, their affair reinforcing by the pressure that has just been a laker.
The two spoke on FaceTime on Saturday evening when James received the news at a family dinner, and said that it did not seem real until he saw Dončić in the team, and Davis during ‘A Dallas Mavericks shot in Philadelphia earlier during the day.
“It was then that it finally struck me, like, Oh s ***, it’s real,” said James.
He also reports, at least in one way or another, that Lakers no longer consider James’ wishes above all. It is assumed that there must be a plausible denial so as not to keep James in the loop when the talks began to become serious, given the nature of the James-Davis friendship and the fact that they share an agent, Rich Paul.
Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss were clearly on this, the gay listeners of the Dallas Mavericks field. And at one point, if not before Saturday’s match against the New York Knicks, head coach JJ Redick was tilted.
It is generally not a triumvirate, but in this case, it was a secret club of three.
Usually it is on the joke, not a believer that the news on Davis’s trade was a hoax.
“Literally became brothers in the past five and a half years,” said James. “We were able to accomplish on the ground, it goes without saying. But we grow up together, knowing the families of the other, seeing us grow, seeing each other the children grow.
If he had not struck it before, he did it at that time – that it is not only Dončić on arrival in Los Angeles, but Davis starting, and what He leaves behind. Austin Reaves spoke of seeing Davis’ children on FaceTime and They Mocking Reaves of the 3 -point celebration.
This is the kind of bond that left a lot of upheaval and injury when James left comfortable environments in his past, because he always had the ultimate lever effect in each situation he entered.
And to these other judgments, he pulled the lever.
During his first visit to Cleveland, when he stopped dancing, the show was finished and removing this jersey that the night of May in Boston was the confirmation of what the front office of the horsemen had done at this point, was Not enough to keep James happy or in town.
James played a chicken game with Pat Riley and the Miami Heat after a successful partnership during this four -year period – if he was dared to go away, he did it without emotion and after he seemed that Miami N ‘had no more winning movements to stay at the top of the NBA.
When he returned to Cleveland a man made, it was almost perfect. Kyrie Irving as a young running mate with head talents, but not necessarily skills No. 1, and Kevin Love was soon to follow – James pulling the ropes and everyone for the journey.
Even his arrival with the Lakers was billed as a need, and now does this same need exist? This is probably the case, but the terms are not so unbalanced. With Dončić some 15 years younger, the Lakers will first have to consider his wishes and his needs and this has never been the case at any time in James’ career.
“What is the problem with this?” If I had concerns, I would have given up my non-exchange clause and I got out of here, “said James easily.
The Lakers have acquired Dončić but must court it because they do not have the additional financial incentive of $ 350 million like Dallas at their disposal. Dončić must be the first priority of the franchise in a way that Davis was not going to be, at least because the franchise did not see it as a real option n ° 1.
And it is difficult to court two players in two different deadlines at the same time, but it is the challenge that the Lakers are, voluntarily and knowingly.
James has a player option for next season and can continue to do it as long as his body is holding up, and it was masterfully on Tuesday evening. James Plus shooters are always a success of success when the Lakers separated the Clippers from Los Angeles – the clippers playing like the team that had been emotionally emptied and the Lakers like a heap waiting for an injured opponent, repressing on An opportunity.
Lakers have played in this way because James can galvanize as well as anyone for a particular game and since his return, he was masterful: 25.1 points, 9.0 assists, 7.1 rebounds out of 53% shooting and 40 on a 3-point range in its last 21 games, and the Lakers went 16-7 in their last 23 years, including their beat of Clippers.
The irony of the Lakers finalizing Dončić’s trade following a big victory on the road in New York on national television, which almost legitimate them as a team with which it is necessary to count in the West, is too to ignore .
Now, the clock does not move all along the way, but it is not accelerated at the time of the Usual James emergency.
“I’m here right now,” said James, almost severely. “I am here to help Luka and Maxi (Kleber) to make the transition. As team leader, one of the team captains, it is my job to make it as transparent as possible. »»
Since the Dončić-Davis trade, the leaders of the league have declared having opened conversations, some would have called “unthinkable”, and some of the most precious stars in the league, such as Stephen Curry and Anthony Edwards, have spoken openly how they are shocked were in agreement and how no one is safe if someone with Dončić’s pedigree can be moved so easily.
This does not mean that James will be exchanged or will accept this before the deadline on Thursday. It’s just that nothing can be judged as off -question. Spirits and bodies must be agile, and the coming days could be fun.
