NEW YORK \u2014 When Tyrese Haliburton tried to recruit LeBron James to the Indiana Pacers last month, all he got back was a simple message: two crying laughing emojis.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s about all anyone learned on James\u2019 free agency deliberations during the live taping of his \u201cMind the Game\u201d podcast Thursday afternoon at Fanatics Fest. James didn\u2019t announce any decision, and didn\u2019t dive deep into his process as he waits to make his call about where he\u2019ll play during the 2026-27 season. He took suggestions from the crowd, naming the Golden State Warriors and the Philadelphia 76ers, but that was the only time he named teams.<\/p>\n
But later in the day, James indicated that he expects a decision soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t hold you guys up too much longer,\u201d James said during a panel at the CNBC\/Boardroom Game Plan event at the same venue.<\/p>\n
One person anxiously awaiting his decision? NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who suggested the league\u2019s schedule can\u2019t be completed until James declares his intentions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere LeBron plays affects the schedule,\u201d Silver said while speaking on another panel at the CNBC\/Boardroom Game Plan event. \u201c\u2026 It will influence how we set the schedule \u2014 opening week, Christmas. So I need him to make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
While James waits to announce his next destination, he made it known that he expects to remain an impact player wherever he goes.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking forward to what\u2019s next as I wind down the final stages of my journey,\u201d James said. \u201cWherever I land in the fall, hopefully, you know, if you\u2019re a ride-or-die LeBron fan, you\u2019ve been down with me since Day 1. Hopefully, you ride with me here. If you\u2019re a ride-or-die LeBron hater, that\u2019s what you do anyway, so looking forward to seeing you as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s going to be pretty fun. It\u2019s going to be pretty fun wherever I land. I\u2019m going to do what I do best.\u201d<\/p>\n
LeBron James declines to reveal free agency decision<\/p>\n
Mike Vorkunov<\/p>\n
James announced last month that he wouldn\u2019t return to the Los Angeles Lakers after eight seasons with the team. He is weighing the 76ers, Warriors, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers as options while deciding where to play his 24th NBA season.<\/p>\n
James thanked the Lakers and team governor Jeanie Buss for his time in Los Angeles, calling it \u201can unbelievable ride.\u201d<\/p>\n
But James didn\u2019t drop any breadcrumbs about what\u2019s coming next. Instead, his strongest message was to anyone he perceived as doubting his abilities at 41. He will turn 42 in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m seeing something on social media the other day that, wherever I go, we may be in the Play-In or some s\u2013 like that and I\u2019m not a factor anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cSo maybe that as well, too, is a little motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n
If James lands in Philadelphia, Cleveland or Miami, the move will further the tilt of talent to the Eastern Conference. He acknowledged that migration as a major storyline of the NBA offseason.<\/p>\n
Of course, he didn\u2019t say that would continue.<\/p>\n
The most insight James allowed into his psyche came after a fan asked him which team had been his favorite to play with. James took a long pause before answering, but instead of naming just one team, he listed his NBA championship-winning Heat teams, the 2016 Cavaliers, the 2020 Lakers, and made sure to add the 2008 Redeem Team that took gold for the U.S. at the 2008 Olympics. Winning big, it was clear, is important for James.<\/p>\n
Haliburton, the co-host for this edition of the podcast, tried to goad James into announcing something when the pair took the stage. But James quickly reminded him that they discussed backstage he wasn\u2019t saying anything.<\/p>\n
So the wait on James and his latest lower-case \u201cD\u201d decision continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 When Tyrese Haliburton tried to recruit LeBron James to the Indiana Pacers last month, all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":767386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[8174,2243,1055,8173,11951,355,2113,99],"class_list":["post-767385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-miami-heat","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-nba","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}