“LeBron James tried recruiting this star before Anthony Davis”: NBA Insider reveals which franchise player the Lakers star courted before they traded for the Pelicans’ MVP

Tonoy Sengupta | 17/04/2021
"LeBron James tried recruiting this star before Anthony Davis": NBA Insider reveals which franchise player the Lakers star courted before they traded for the Pelicans' MVP

NBA Insider reveals LeBron James tried to recruit a different NBA superstar before he lobbied with the Lakers’ FO for Anthony Davis. 

The LA Lakers hadn’t seen success in the NBA since the days of the late, great Kobe Bryant. But that all changed as soon as LeBron James signed up to be the face of the franchise. Well, sort of.

The King may arguably be the greatest player of all time, but even he needs a superstar to support him to win it all. As fans of the NBA know, that superstar was Anthony Davis, who arrived in James’s second season with the franchise.

The now four-time NBA champion will probably tell you Davis was his first choice. However, as a source recently revealed, this was far from the case.

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LeBron James recruited Damian Lillard on several occasions before he went after Anthony Davis

LeBron James is making a name for himself when it comes to recruiting superstars to come join him. It was an open secret that James was courting Anthony Davis for a while.

Even this season, there were reports of the star recruiting Stephen Curry to join him for a title challenge this season. But what seemed to have flown under the radar until now, was James’s pursuit of a different superstar.

This happened even before Anthony Davis before the recruitment of AD. Bleacher Report writer Jake Fischer had this to say on the matter.

“By all accounts, the Blazers centerpiece is perhaps the most loyal of NBA stars, hailed around the league as a rare breed of culture setter…”

“He has long rebuffed recruiting attempts from rivals—and there have been plenty. In this league, LeBron James drafting Lillard to three straight All-Star squads is not coincidence.”

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LeBron James is clearly a massive fan of Damian Lillard, and justifiably so. The 30-year-old isn’t far behind Stephen Curry when it comes to shooting from long range. And he even may just be the most clutch player in the NBA right now.

However, for Damian Lillard to so actively reject these advances are a testament to the player’s undying loyalty to the Blazers. Perhaps, in 10 years, we will look back and say Lillard was the last of a dying breed of players in the NBA.

 

Post Edited By: Amulya Shekhar
Anthony Davis Damian Lillard LA Lakers LeBron James NBA Portland Trail Blazers

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.

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