In the past, we’ve seen a lot of NBA players take a very active role in recruiting top free agents to their organization. The Houston Rockets don’t seem inclined to do that with LeBron James.
Despite having the likely league MVP in James Harden and a close friend of James in Chris Paul, there isn’t much of a recruiting effort going on. According to Harden, that’s because they don’t really believe they can change his mind.
“Honestly, like, what, LeBron’s about to be in his 16th year in the league?,” Harden said, via Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t think there’s anybody that can persuade him to go where he wants to go. I think it’s all up to him at this place in his career. He’s got three championships. It’s about business, it’s about family for him. Whether he wants to go to Houston or LA or stay in Cleveland, no GM, no friend, nobody can persuade him other than maybe his kids and his wife. Whatever he decides to do, he’ll do it.”
Even Paul, who is tight with James, isn’t making much of an effort to influence his decision.
“Nah,” Harden said. “Him and Chris are really tight. As a friend, him and Chris are really good friends. I don’t think they talk about him coming to Houston. I think they talk about basketball and if LeBron wants to say, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about coming your way,’ then that’s a discussion we can have. I don’t think they talk about it.”
James knows what he wants at this point, and having been through the free agency process twice in his career, he also knows what to expect. It’s likely a reason that he’s looking for a fairly low-key decision process this time around.
