It was obviously one of the main storylines of the NBA offseason. Once the split between the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James became official, the only question left was which team would likely be the last to see the "King" play in their colors.
22 days later, he still hasn't signed anywhere. It's been clear for a long time that he wants to pick the right team, the one that would give him a final shot at a fifth title. It could have been simple, no matter when he made his choice, but now it's turning into a farce. And to see just how much, nothing beats a good old timeline.
All the ups and downs
On June 30, Daven McMenamin from ESPN reported that "LeBron James asked Rich Paul to contact every team in the league interested in signing him and to present him with all the different options so he could make his decision."
On July 1, according to Shams Charania, "LeBron's number one priority is his happiness. Not money."
On July 2, again from Shams Charania: "LeBron James is in no rush to make a decision. He'll probably take a few days to assess his situation. There's no set timeline (for his decision)."
On July 5, Marc Stein reported that "a return to Cleveland is becoming more likely."
On July 7, Chris Haynes from Amazon explained that "Rich Paul will talk with the interested teams and then present the different options to him. There is zero rush."
On July 8, Shams Charania said that the Cavaliers, the Heat, and the 76ers are the favourites.
On July 10, Brian Windhorst said that according to his sources, it will not be Cleveland, and that Miami is still in the running.
On July 14, Chris Haynes said that he "spoke with Rich Paul, his agent, and he told me that LeBron has all the information he needs. So now it's up to LeBron to make a decision. He's in deliberation mode."
On July 15, Shams Charania said that "the focus is on Cleveland, Miami, and Philadelphia. His decision could come any day, any week."
On July 16, Tim Reynolds reported the King's words: "I'm not going to make you wait much longer."
On July 21, James himself: "People keep telling me: Hurry up and make a decision. But it's not just about the team. It's about what's best for me as a player, as a person, about my happiness and my family. Family is extremely important to me."
That's the NBA for you
All this information, all these statements, come from well-informed insiders, from LeBron James himself, or from his agent Rich Paul. But between "LeBron's number one priority is his happiness. Not money." on July 1, and "It's about what's best for me as a player, as a person, about my happiness and my family", 21 days have passed. 21 days during which reports and statements have been flying around, only to end up back at square one.
Even worse, yesterday, Paul said the following on the "Game Over" podcast with disarming boldness: "This isn't about seeking attention or putting on a show. It's not about a decision or anything like that. He has a choice to make. He has a professional choice to make."
The result: three long weeks of hearing all day that the decision is close, that LeBron will make his choice any moment now, and in the end... nothing. Or rather, yes: massive media attention, a daily soap opera, insiders competing to break the exclusive during a period that's usually slow for the NBA, once the first days of free agency are over.
But the highlight of the show came from none other than Adam Silver. On CNBC, the NBA commissioner gave us a surreal statement: "We need to finalize the schedule, and the team LeBron plays for will impact how it's built... It will especially influence opening week and the Christmas games. So I need him to make a decision."
It's not LeBron James's fault by being LeBron James's fault. Or the other way around. But the media attention generated by these three weeks is obviously good for business. Even better, blaming LeBron to justify the delay in the schedule isn't a problem for Silver: making the King play the villain isn't the first time.
Still, all of this is kind of LeBron James's fault. Sixteen years after "The Decision", a non-event turned into a show by his own doing, he had the chance to reset the clock. He missed it. Now all that's left is to wait. Again. Hoping that the famous Miami Heat "leak" hasn't ruined everything...
