LeBron James does not care for Blake Griffin’s prediction that he’s more likely to leave Cleveland for New York than Los Angeles.
While making an appearance on the”View From the Cheap Seats“ podcast, the Los Angeles Clippers’ All-Star forward said the following (h/t TMZ):
“Honestly, I don’t see him coming to L.A. period,” Griffin said … “I could see him going to New York before L.A.”
Skip ahead a couple days, and TMZ had the opportunity to ask James about Griffin’s sentiments, to which the four-time MVP responded:
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about, shawty,” LeBron told our female photog … right before hopping into his clean white Porsche.
We asked some follow-up questions — LeBron was super nice to our photog. But ultimately, we got more information about his rap music preferences than his basketball plans.
Imagine James not copping to his free-agency plans in 2018, right?
Look, his foray onto the open market next summer (player option) is going to remain a thing. He’s LeBron. That there’s even the slightest chance he could abandon the Cavaliers is a huge deal. The entire NBA won’t plan around his availability, as it did in 2010 and again in 2014, but he’ll have his choice of suitors. Combine that demand with the general unrest in Cleveland, and you have a recipe for rampant speculation and, in this case, calls for other players, such as Griffin, to weigh in. But these moments don’t mean anything. Not really. Griffin wasn’t making a prediction so much as he was offering an opinion. His thoughts have no bearing on what will happen in 11 months.
LeBron himself probably doesn’t even know. So much depends on how Cleveland’s season ends, which teams have cap space and what Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade all decide to do. So remember that as we parse these sound bites for a glimpse into James’ future. We know nothing, and we’re not going to learn much, if anything, between now and next July.
