Sunday, February 4, 2024

Lakers' LeBron James Says He's Considered Playing for Knicks: 'I've Had That Thought'


Brian Fluharty/Getty Images

New York Knicks fans have surely thought about LeBron James playing in the blue and orange at some point during his legendary NBA tenure.

It turns out they aren't the only ones.

"I've had that thought in my career," James told reporters on Saturday when discussing whether he ever considered joining the Knicks, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.

The idea of James switching teams has at least picked up some steam of late considering he has a player option for the 2024-25 campaign. The Los Angeles Lakers don't exactly look like a team built to win multiple titles in the coming years either considering they are just 25-25 and in ninth place in the Western Conference.

James has been somewhat cryptic on social media as well, and New York fans surely noticed the Statue of Liberty emoji:

Yet his agent, Rich Paul, shut down the idea of an immediate move ahead of Thursday's trade deadline when he said, "LeBron won't be traded, and we aren't asking to be," per ESPN's Brian Windhorst.

The Knicks are also sitting in a perfectly fine position without the King.

They are 32-17 and in third place in the Eastern Conference. They are also just a half-game behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 2 seed and enter Saturday's game against the Lakers riding a nine-game winning streak.

The James discussions are clearly going to be a storyline when he faces New York in a head-to-head matchup, but Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, OG Anunoby are doing just fine on their own.

Maybe there will be a time when James is a must-see attraction in the Big Apple even at the backend of his career. And maybe there was a time when a prime LeBron would have made the difference for the Knicks in the Eastern Conference.

But New York is the team with all the momentum heading into a showdown with his Lakers this time around.

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