LeBron James Says Kobe Didn’t Recruit Him In Free Agency

Dan Duangdao
2 Min Read

APTOPIX NBA All Star Basketball

This past off-season, the Los Angeles Lakers had ample cap room in hopes of signing both LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Unfortunately for the franchise, LeBron returned home to the Cleveland Cavaliers while Carmelo re-signed with the New York Knicks.

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With the Lakers set to take on the Cavaliers on Thursday night, LeBron says Kobe did not recruit him during free agency this past summer according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:

During free agency, general manager Mitch Kupchak only met with LeBron’s agent and the Lakers were never able to actually meet with the four-time Most Valuable Player. With the Lakers waiting on the two superstars’ decisions, they were forced to move to Plan B which featured trading for Jeremy Lin and signing Ed Davis.

While the Lakers could not land LeBron or Carmelo this past summer, the franchise will have another opportunity to pursue big-name free agents. The Lakers are projected to have as much as $30 million in cap space as Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge and Rajon Rondo headline this year’s free agency class.

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Dan Duangdao was the managing editor at Lakers Nation (2013-16, 2018-20). He is currently the founder at LA Sports Media, Lake Show, Raiders Nation, Rams Nation, Kings Nation, Galaxy Nation, and MMA Rumors. Born and raised in Southern California and a lifelong Los Angeles sports and mixed martial arts fan, his first NBA game was Kobe Bryant and the Lakers against the Golden State Warriors with Michael Jordan in attendance during the 1998-99 NBA season. He was previously a contributor at HOOPSWORLD (now Basketball Insiders) and an NBA editor at ClutchPoints. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @DanDuangdao.