After falling short of NBA titles last season, the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James tried to convince Klay Thompson to join the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason. Ultimately, his move failed as Thompson joined the Dallas Mavericks.
This attempt to bring a key player to the Lakers isn’t unique to LeBron James. Back in 2016, following the Cleveland Cavaliers’ victory over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, James made a notable effort to convince Kevin Durant to join the NBA champions.
Former NBA player Rashad McCants recently drew attention to this pattern of LeBron’s recruiting attempts. He recently retweeted a news article on “Report: LeBron James’ Cavaliers Pursued Kevin Durant After 2016 Finals” and poked fun at James’ trial.
“Is it obvious,” he wrote in the caption with a series of emojis.
In 2016, the Cavaliers, not James, drove the effort to recruit Kevin Durant. Similar to the situation with Thompson, this attempt also did not succeed. Durant joined the Golden State Warriors in 2016 and won two NBA titles with them.
Lakers Eye Mavericks’ Star Luka Doncic as Future Target
LeBron James has recently signed a contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, but his long-term future with the team remains uncertain. Hence, the Lakers are planning for the future by eyeing another NBA star. On a recent episode of The Ringer’s ‘The Mismatch’, NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor discussed the Lakers’ interest in Luka Doncic.
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“I’ve reported on this podcast and on The Ringer how they have their sights set for Luka [Doncic] in the future. We’ll see if that works out. Dallas just made the Finals. Dallas is looking better than ever with their supporting cast. That may not work out. But the Lakers, by not trading their future picks, clearly they’re still thinking long-term at this point,” O’Connor said.
Doncic played a key role in leading the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, although they ultimately lost to the Boston Celtics. It’ll remain to be seen if the Lakers ultimately can end up adding Doncic after James’ retirement.
Also Read: Is LeBron James The Greatest In NBA? A Statistical Analysis of The Basketball GOAT Debate.
