It's still hard to believe, but LeBron James chose the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency, a couple of weeks after informing the Lakers he wouldn't be returning. Since then, a lot has changed in Los Angeles, with the biggest domino falling on Wednesday when ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported that Mark Walters agreed to sell his majority stake to Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner.
In a piece detailing the sale, ESPN's Dave McMenamin included an interesting tidbit about the timing: if it had happened sooner, would it have affected LeBron's decision to leave LA? ESPN "spoke to a source close to James" who said:
"Maybe. But that's tough to answer. Communication could have been better [with Iger and Kushner, compared to Walter]. Just a different relationship. But the basketball piece was the most important, so maybe not from that standpoint."
Perhaps if the sale had happened earlier and Iger and Kushner had been upfront and communicated better with LeBron than Walters apparently did, it would've led James to think twice about leaving. Or, maybe, as the source said, that wouldn't have mattered, since it was about basketball.
76ers could've benefitted from timing of Lakers ownership change
As LeBron said in his statement after news broke that he was joining the Sixers, he believed he could make Philadelphia a "championship team" and that he looked forward to energizing a new fan base. It sure doesn't sound like it was a decision motivated by who was or wasn't in charge.
Still, the Sixers can be glad that the change didn't deter their pursuit of LeBron. The sale reportedly wasn't even being discussed when James was weighing his future, as ESPN reported that Iger and Kushner approached Walters this past Friday. Just a casual $12.5 billion deal coming together in the span of a few days. Totally relatable!
Only LeBron can speak to how he truly feels, but it'd be hard to believe that the sale is enough for him to think twice about leaving Los Angeles. If anything, it could give him more reason to be glad that he's in Philadelphia, rather than dealing with another ownership change involving the Lakers, one that came out of nowhere.
Though Philadelphia was in the running for LeBron, it wasn't regarded as the destination that the majority thought he'd choose, but that's what happened.
He was ready to step away from the Lakers and, in this case, travel across the country to take on a new adventure. There is reason to think that would've still been the case even if Walters had agreed to sell before free agency, but Philadelphia can be glad it didn't have to worry about that happening.
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