In a recent appearance on Gil’s Arena, Rich Paul, the CEO of Klutch Sports and a trusted confidant of LeBron James, provided a glimpse into the reasoning behind LeBron’s decision to leave Cleveland for the second time and join the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018.
Regarding the Lakers, Paul highlighted the promising talent pool, which included emerging stars like Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart. These young talents were a significant factor in LeBron’s decision-making process.
“If anybody knows him, he gets bored fast,” Paul said. “So my conversation was looking at the talent at the time they had Jesse [Buss] had done a great job in the draft Kuz [Kyle Kuzma], Brandon Ingram, Zo [Lonzo Ball], Josh Hart – the talent who’s young, but was there. If you gonna leave Cleveland, where you’re going?”
Furthermore, LeBron’s family was another key consideration, as he prioritized their comfort and stability. Paul underscored that James was resolute in his choice to move to Los Angeles to provide a stable environment for his loved ones.
“At that time it didn’t make sense… you got family component man ain’t moving nowhere no matter where you go, I’m going to L.A., so it don’t matter to me wherever you go,” he said.
Paul compared joining the Lakers to climbing a mountain which James had already accomplished with the Cavaliers.
“So now it’s just a matter of who climbs the mountaintop to come back down and have to climb the mountaintop again,” he said. “Now, obviously if you go here and win, you’ve been in three different destinations and you won three different places. No matter how many times you’ve been, you won. Different conversation.
“So now you have to go here with a respect for the organization, the legacy and all the championships and the players whether they were key guys or not, there’s a fraternity that comes with that. And at the same time a will and a want and drive to get back up to this mountain.”
