LeBron James officially chose not to opt in to his player option in Cleveland on Friday, which meant the free agency sweepstakes for LeBron had begun in earnest.
With James now on the market, all eyes turned to Los Angeles where the Lakers are locked in on trying to bring him in along with Kawhi Leonard in a trade from San Antonio. The LeBron deadline passing meant trade talks with the Spurs quieted a bit, as the urgency to get it done to ensure LeBron didn’t opt in was no longer there. That meant focus shifted to when LeBron would make his decision, and indications are it might be sooner than originally expected.
To make that decision LeBron flew in from his vacation in the Anguilla to Los Angeles on Saturday, which was recognized by a sleuth on NBA Twitter that tracked the private jet from Cleveland to Miami to Anguilla and found it would be en route to L.A.
This private jet flew from Cleveland to Miami to Anguilla in the last 10 days, and is now en route to Los Angeles https://t.co/Z0yaPsbNq6 @World_Wide_Wob
— rain drop drop top im billy eilish (@JimSebow) June 30, 2018
Flight tracking is a tried and true method of fans to figure out where players and coaches are headed during free agency and the offseason — it’s an art perfected by SEC fans during coaching search season — and NBA Twitter immediately jumped into action. From there Rob Perez put out the call to see who could get on the ground at Van Nuys airport in L.A. to confirm it was indeed LeBron.
https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/1013051908150439937
ESPN’s Arash Markazi and others answered that call and posted up at Van Nuys to greet James and confirm that he was, indeed, headed to his “Decision Cave” (Brian Windhorst™) to figure out his future.
I blame @World_Wide_Wob for this. pic.twitter.com/rMA0n8IkHG
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) June 30, 2018
I’m not alone out here. pic.twitter.com/dWG1vaY3ux
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) June 30, 2018
LeBron James landing in Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/nLnX0CxEbe
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) June 30, 2018
Future Laker LeBron James has landed in LA pic.twitter.com/ghhVdAq7F1
— Alex Harmer (@harmer805) June 30, 2018
LeBron is in Los Angeles apparently. (I was told he was in this car leaving Van Nuys Airport.) Now we wait on his decision. pic.twitter.com/edDnZGMGO1
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) June 30, 2018
It means nothing for his free agency decision that he is in Los Angeles, where he owns a home, beyond the fact that he’s ready to get going on his decision making process. We will know that choice when he’s ready to deliver it, likely via Uninterrupted. The rest of the league hopes the answer comes soon because he’s the domino that will set off all the others, and if he takes his time it will hold everyone else hostage.
