Just when it appeared that the Miami Heat were close to sealing the deal with LeBron James, Rich Paul has called a timeout.
Addressing his client’s free agency on Monday, Paul clarified that James is nowhere near choosing a team and has no set timeline. The comments were a response to NBA commissioner Adam Silver urging James to make a decision quickly, so the league can proceed with finalizing the schedule for the 2026-27 season.
“We’re not going to be rushed,” Paul said on the “Game Over” podcast, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “We’re not going to be rushed. It’s his choice to make and when he makes the choice, he’ll make it.”
LeBron James Free Agency: Miami Heat Wait
Interestingly, Paul suggested that James’ suitors have reached out to him to reassess if they should be making specific roster tweaks to appease the 41-year-old star. Paul made it clear that James already had the information he needed and was deliberating.
“There’s been several people to call and say, ‘Hey, Rich, is there anything more we should be doing? We could be doing?'” Paul revealed.
“And my answer is, ‘No. We don’t need you to go above and beyond about anything. We understand it. It’s clear. All the messages have been sent.'”
LeBron James Free Agency: No Frontrunner
Since James officially became a free agent on July 1, there’s been no clear-cut frontrunner to land his services. Initially, it was widely believed that the Cleveland Cavaliers were the favorites to land their hometown star, with the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors next in the pecking order. Over the past week, though, the Philadelphia 76ers emerged as a likely destination after reports revealed that Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown all reached out to James to recruit him, and James later met Sixers majority owner Josh Harris.
James further fueled those rumors when he claimed his free-agency decision will boil down to “trusting the process” and that he prefers to join a team that shares his motto.
The back-and-forth speculation notwithstanding, the Heat emerged as the new betting favorites earlier this week. However, Paul shot down the chatter with a blunt take.
“These people don’t know anything,” Paul said of the LeBron James free agency.
“I don’t know when his choice is going to be made, but it could be 48 seconds [from now]. It could be 48 minutes. I don’t know. Again, you can’t make somebody know something that they don’t know.”
With the process dragging into its fourth week, several analysts have criticized James for turning his free agency into a circus at his suitors’ expense, and even costing them an opportunity to recruit other players.
Paul fired back at those critics on Monday.
“I think it’s important for people to understand: We’re not making this about attention and a spectacle,” Paul said.
“It’s not about a ‘Decision’ or anything like that. He has a choice to make. He has a business choice to make. We’re not going to sit here and decide or allow someone else to decide when he makes that decision. … It’s a business choice that he’s making. And I think as an athlete, why is it that an athlete has to rush his choice?”
Miami Heat Thrown off by New LeBron James Decision Timeline