The NBA universe wasn’t expecting this. A week after the trade deadline had passed, the biggest news came from Adrian Wojnarowski. The ESPN and NBA insider revealed how LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers‘ cornerstone was the subject of trade talk amongst various owners and GMs. In particular, the Golden State Warriors even tried to recruit the 39-year-old to pair him besides his long-time nemesis, Stephen Curry.

In his report, Woj claimed Joe Lacob, the owner of the Bay area franchise reached out to Jeanie Buss for a private conversation regarding the status of James. It was after his public outburst and a cryptic hourglass tweet that raised suspicions of him wanting a change of scenery. As it turns out, the Lakers weren’t interested and neither was James and his entourage.

Lacob was motivated by Draymond Green, a rival turned close friend of James. He is even a partner in the Akron Hammer’s tequila – Lobos. Coincidentally, they also share the same agent, Klutch Sports’ Rich Paul. Green reached out to him directly.

Is Draymond Green guilty of tampering in the chase for LeBron James

As mentioned above, Green really wanted to host LeBron James in Golden State. He went above and beyond in trying to recruit him. His first step was to talk to Lacob and persuade him to engage with the Lakers. Next, he sent a text message to Rich Paul requesting him to somehow bend James into accepting a trade to the Warriors.

Green can be considered a successful recruiter of sorts. Previously, he played a heavy hand in bringing Kevin Durant to the Bay. Ironically, that was to tackle James’ Cleveland Cavaliers. It worked in their favor. The Warriors began a dynasty and won two straight championships. But now that their reign seems to fade, he did his all to try and preserve their status.

A curious fan spoke up on X formerly Twitter. Speaking to James’ agent in an attempt to lure him to Oakland seemed to be tampering. From the outside, it’s understandable why it seems so. But Sportac’s Keith Smith erased the doubts. As long as Green didn’t hold any conversations with LeBron James directly, it isn’t considered to be tampering he revealed.

All Draymond Green did was talk to his own agent about another client of his. It was merely a request. Yes, it comes off as an unfair advantage to have a middleman carrying the conversations that would otherwise qualify as tampering. However, the NBA regulations only penalize any player for having direct contact with a player, something Green didn’t do.

If it did go through, it would have shaken the very roots of the league. The Warriors and LeBron James is a rivalry that dates back to a decade ago. You can even blame Stephen Curry and Co for James having two fewer titles in his resume. Additionally, he and Chef Curry were once arch-rivals fitting for the crown to be the best player in the NBA. Even Green would tone up his aggressiveness when facing James who he viewed as a challenger back then.

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Since then, they have become the best of friends. But business remains business. And James wanted to stay loyal to LA.

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