LeBron James has governors, the NHL and the NFL waiting for his free agency decision

MIAMI (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made his sales pitch. So did DJ Khaled, the New York Jets and the Winnipeg Jets. Even the PGA Tour took a swing, trying to appeal to someone who has quickly become obsessed with golf.

“We’re waiting for you Bron,” the tour posted on social media.

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Get in line. Every team and every league, it would seem, wants LeBron James.

The waiting-for-LeBron game is on, with the entire basketball universe — and, evidently, the political, entertainment, football, hockey and golf universes as well — waiting to hear what the greatest scorer in NBA history will decide about the 2026-27 season. All that is known so far are two things: He isn’t retiring yet, and he won’t be playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

James let the world know on Tuesday that he’s coming back for at least one more season and that he’s decided to move on from the Lakers, those decisions becoming known a few hours before the start of free agency. What happens next, and when it will happen, is anyone’s guess. The oldest active player in the NBA is still a guy who moves the needle, and it’s not even clear if he knows how long this process will take.

“LeBron James, come on, let’s do it again,” DJ Khaled, a regular courtside patron at Miami Heat games, said in a video posting in an effort to recruit James back to the place where he won his first two NBA titles. “Come on, man. Let’s do it again. After the game, we’ll go play golf. You know Miami’s the best city in the world.”

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A person familiar with James’ planning told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he wanted his agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, to take meetings with interested teams — actual NBA ones, which means it doesn’t look good for other online suitors such as the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers and soccer’s Minnesota United — before reporting back.

For the most part, James and Paul went into this process knowing much of what the teams would say. Cleveland’s pitch would be that Northeast Ohio is home, that his career started there and that it would make sense to end it there. Miami’s pitch would be that he won two…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lebron-james-governors-nhl-nfl-062214533.html

Author : TIM REYNOLDS

Publish date : 2026-07-01 06:22:00

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