76ers' LeBron James wanted to be drafted by Eastern Conference powerhouse instead of Cavaliers originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to have a good year, at least based on the moves they made this offseason. Philadelphia made some big moves that have the team set up for the next couple of seasons.
The first major move was trading for Jaylen Brown, who was unhappy in Boston. The second big move was signing LeBron James.
“LeBron James is signing with the Philadelphia 76ers for his final run at another NBA championship, he announced Friday," ESPN's Dave McMenamin wrote. "James, 41, is signing a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option, Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul told ESPN's Shams Charania."
For James, this was a big change, as his family is staying on the West Coast, meaning he won't get to see them as often. The four-time NBA champion has been vocal about how difficult it has been to spend less time with his family.
“Every day is getting better, and obviously I'm gonna have some days where some days will be better than others. But when I get to the facility, around these guys, it definitely helps," James said.
The 76ers are set to open the season in New York on Tuesday night, making the timing of a report about James particularly interesting. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst revealed that James wanted to be drafted by the New York Knicks when he entered the NBA.
“There was this dream, and in fact, it was kind of LeBron‘s dream too. Literally the night before he agreed to his Nike contract, in his Nike contract he got a 20 or 30% bonus if he got drafted to the Knicks. They agreed to that the night before the Lottery. That’s why it was so important to get it done before the lottery. And when the envelope opened and showed the Knicks at number nine, there was an audible in the room because people wanted LeBron to go to the Knicks,” Windhorst said.
Instead, James was drafted by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and things worked out well for him. Had the Knicks drafted him, they likely would have done everything in their power to keep him in New York throughout his career.
The timing of Windhorst's comments is interesting, with the game taking place tonight and the ESPN analyst discussing James' former dream destination on Monday. James has already admitted that he planned to join the Knicks this summer if they didn’t win the NBA championship, so it makes sense that New York was where he wanted to play coming out of high school.
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