The smoke surrounding Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and a potential trade was quickly put to rest by his agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, at least for this season.
James posted cryptic tweets and gave similar answers to questions about the contracts, declining to provide clarification. He also sported a New York Knicks towel during his interview following the Lakers’ win on Feb. 3.
All of these things were in fact intended to send a message to the Lakers’ front office with the trade deadline just days away, according to a league insider.
“Obviously, LeBron wears towels a lot, okay,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on “The Hoop Collective” on Feb. 5. “That’s why he’s so brilliant. Because he has perfect denial skills, he can say, ‘I’ll just put a towel around my shoulders.’ What are you talking about? You guys are out of your mind.’
“LeBron, this is what he excels at. He calculates all these things. Obviously he was aware and aware that he was wearing a towel that said New York Knicks. And why would he mess with the Knicks? Because he’s using, he was using the Knicks as a tool to put pressure on the Lakers.”