LeBron James’ time with the Los Angeles Lakers has come to an end as he announced he will be signing a two-year minimum contract to join the Philadelphia 76ers.
The move came as a bit of a surprise to some, but James emphasized that his decision was based on his desire to compete for more championships. When James’ agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports recently spoke about the decision, he stated his belief that Lakers legend Kobe Bryant would appreciate it.
“I actually think this is something Kobe would be extremely… I don’t know if proud’s the right word, but I think he would be like ‘hell yeah.’ Because it’s a challenge, it’s a competitive move,” Paul said on his Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman.
Bryant and James built a close relationship before the former’s passing after playing together on Team USA and then the latter joining the Lakers. In fact, Bryant’s final social media post before he died was congratulating James for passing him on the all-time scoring list, which coincidentally happened in Philadelphia.
It’s hard to know exactly how Bryant would feel about James leaving the Lakers as he bled purple and gold and spent all 20 years of his career with the same franchise. James, on the other hand, will now be wearing his fourth different jersey.
One thing Bryant was always about though as competing for championships and doing whatever it takes to win. From that regard, he likely would have understood James’ move, even if it meant leaving the Lakers.
To his credit, James joined the Lakers during their worst period in franchise history without any other superstars coming with him. There aren’t a lot of players who would have done that at the time, and James made good on his promise to the organization by winning a championship just two years later.
That championship was won just months after Bryant’s death when the entire city was grieving, and James deserves a lot of credit for how he handled that period of time.
Now, James will look to tie Bryant with five total championships in his career, and he will do it playing in the Lakers legend’s hometown of Philadelphia.
LeBron James contemplated retirement?
Before announcing he was joining the 76ers, James revealed that he was close to retiring at the end of this past season. He clearly still has a lot left in the tank though and now will look to win another championship in Phialdelphia.
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