The Philadelphia 76ers are strongly rumored to be one of the final teams still in the running to land LeBron James. With other sensible contenders right in line with them, the front office seems to be revving up its chase of the megastar. To that effect, Bob Myers recently made one move that has never seen before in any free agency transaction.
Myers, who is the lead decision-maker for the 76ers ownership group as president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, recently hopped on Rich Paul's podcast and made a direct pitch as to why Philly should be the eventual landing spot for the 22-time All-Star. Basically, Myers went to James' agent and fashioned out a sales talk.
Well, that has simply never been done in the past. Transactions in the open market are always done behind closed doors, and this is clearly an aberration. It just goes to show how critical this bidding war has become, which is probably justified to a degree given the magnitude of the mere prospect of possibly being James' likely final team in his illustrious career.
The 76ers just made a move never seen before in the LeBron James bidding war
To be fair, Myers was a little bit cudgeled into resorting to this unprecedented maneuver. After all, it was reported not too long ago that James will not be meeting with any team in free agency, with all matters appurtenant thereto getting funneled through and sifted by Paul, his agent, who will then present intel to LeBron before he makes his seismic decision that will certainly alter the landscape of the league next season.
The consensus belief is that the LeBron sweepstakes is down to just three teams with Cleveland, Miami, and Philadelphia. Myers appears to be doing his earnest to give the 76ers a leg up in the conversation, but the other teams are James' former ball clubs, which probably places them at a higher pedestal at this very juncture.
Was this necessary, though? Well, it is. However, it does not change the fact that the situation has turned out to be more peculiar than expected, although the situation might have just called for it. After all, LeBron's approach to his free agency has not been the most gregarious, albeit by design.
Whether this move pays off or not remains to be seen, but the fact that the 76ers had to resort to it speaks volumes as to how pivotal the outcome of this sweepstakes is. LeBron James, even in his reduced form, is still a force to be reckoned with, and given his footing at the moment, he could still be the man who can get the franchise over the hump.
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