As the NBA awaits the free-agency decision by LeBron James, his potential suitors are pulling out all the stops to land the 41-year-old star.
The Philadelphia 76ers’ pitch for James is being led by their star trio of Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown, as all three have been in communication with the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported Tuesday.
Maxey is leading the negotiations, per McMenamin, as both he and James are represented by Klutch Sports.
Embiid and James have teamed up once before at the 2024 Summer Olympics when they helped lead the U.S. to a gold medal in Paris.
Brown, a new addition to the 76ers roster, received an MVP endorsement from James last season when he was playing for the Boston Celtics.
“He’s playing great basketball, man,” James said in February. “This whole MVP thing, I don’t understand why his name is not getting talked about some as well. Like, nobody gave them a shot to start the season.”
Philly is just one of the teams James is reportedly considering for his 24th season, along with Cleveland, Miami, Minnesota, Denver, Golden State, San Antonio, Dallas, Boston and New York.
Not to be outdone by the 76ers, Timberwolves president Tim Connelly made a public pitch to James on Tuesday.
“This is a place where you’re going to have a lot of fun and win a lot of games. We’re trying to change the narrative of how this organization is viewed. We’re kind of proud of who we are, and certainly, wherever LeBron ends up, he’s going to make that place much, much better,” Connelly said. “I like who we are and we’re pretty proud of who we are. Hopefully that’s appealing, not just to LeBron, but to any free agent.”
James is the NBA’s oldest active player; he turns 42 in December. He was the first player in league history to log 23 seasons; he’ll add at least one more to that this season.
And wherever he ends up, he will bring a list of accolades that are beyond comparison.
He’s a 22-time All-Star, a 21-time All-NBA selection, a four-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a three-time All-Star Game MVP, and was part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team. He’s coming off a season where he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game, and for his career, he’s averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.
— With files from the Associated Press