**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
Every team, every topic, everywhere. This is Believed.
**Troy Mahabir** (0:07)
This is insane. We have more information on why Lebron James didn't join the Knicks. You're not going to believe this update. We're going to break down all of these latest reports today.
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Why Lebron didn't join the Knicks? We know the Knicks were interested in Lebron James during free agency. They even checked in on him. But ultimately, Lebron chose to join the Philadelphia 76ers. But honestly, if the Knicks really tried to get Lebron James, maybe he would have been on the Knicks. However, there was one player in particular that didn't want the Knicks to sign Lebron James. Take a look at these updates. According to Yahoo Sports and Kevin O'Connor, they give us this following information. Following James' decision to join the Philadelphia 76ers, more details are emerging regarding some of the back channel discussions. Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor reported that Knicks star Jalen Brunson did not want Lebron James to sign with New York. The insider added that Brunson did not recruit James to make a move to the Knicks. According to O'Connor exactly, he states the following, The Knicks winning removed New York from the conversation for Lebron James. Jalen Brunson did not recruit Lebron. Jalen Brunson did not want Lebron James in New York.
And there's even more to this story. You know how I said that the Knicks were interested in bringing in Lebron James? Well, we looked at that report a little bit further, and we actually found some more information on that. It wasn't that the Knicks were interested in Lebron James. If anything, it was Lebron James' camp that reached out to the Knicks to see if there were any interest there. But the Knicks, they decided not to pursue him. Take a look at these updates. According to Sleeper Knicks and Amiko Hoops, they have the following information. Lebron James' camp reached out to the New York Knicks during free agency.
But, New York had no interest in pursuing him. Jalen Brunson also did not recruit Lebron James to the Knicks.
And if you wanted to know why the Knicks didn't pursue Lebron James, here's that information for you too.
According to Amiko, it was James' camp that reached out to the Knicks. And the Knicks were the ones who weren't interested in pursuing him. Here's the why.
The reason given was that the Knicks, fresh off of a championship, didn't want to mess up a good thing. AKA did not want to disrupt their chemistry and everything that they've built up to this point.
So Jalen Brunson did not want Lebron James on the Knicks. And New York, they did not pursue Lebron because they did not want to mess up the chemistry on the team. The team that just helped the Knicks win a championship after 53 years. While the Knicks didn't pursue Lebron James, Philadelphia, that's a completely different story. Not only were they calling Lebron James for weeks, they were texting him and trying to stay in communication with him. One team actively did not pursue him. Another team in the Philadelphia 76ers did everything that they could to bring Lebron James in. According to O'Connor, whereas Philadelphia, Tyrese Maxey, Joellen B, Jalen Brown, these guys were on the phone with Lebron James, recruiting him, texting him, telling him how much they wanted him to be in Philadelphia, which is why I think what the questions about his fit with these guys together are perfectly fair. All these guys together are going to have to sacrifice in ways that they truly never have before. And that's another reason the Knicks did not want to add Lebron James. New York is already sacrificing with the roster that they have. They bring in a player like Lebron James, that just means even more sacrificing. Exactly what the 76ers are gonna have to do right now.
The 76ers tried very hard to recruit Lebron James, while the Knicks, they did nothing. That's why it's no surprise to see the Philadelphia 76ers as Lebron James' next choice. Right now, Philadelphia is doing everything they can to try to win a championship. But with Lebron James on their team, they're going to have to sacrifice. And honestly, if these reports are true about Jalen Brunson not wanting James on the Knicks, I can understand why. It's not so much about wanting Lebron James. It's what adding Lebron James does to a team. How many changes you have to make? Even though the chemistry was working before, now you have to do it all over again if you add a player like Lebron James. There's just so many changes.
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