Posted on 04/16/2024 12:45:20 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Well, at least the New York Knicks tried.
The 2010 recruitment video that the team put together in an effort to recruit LeBron James to the Big Apple leaked Tuesday courtesy of Pablo Torre, who shared parts of it on his podcast, Pablo Torre Finds Out.
It includes no shortage of star power from the likes of fictional characters Tony and Carmelo Soprano, a future president in Donald Trump, actors Chris Rock and Robert De Niro, Knicks fan and director Spike Lee, and many more celebrities:
There is certainly some irony to Trump, of all people, being included in a video recruiting James considering how things played out in the following years.
After Trump became president in 2016, he and James publicly criticized each other on multiple occasions, with the King famously calling the former host of Celebrity Apprentice a "bum" on social media.
The pitch ultimately didn't work for the Knicks, as James went to South Beach and teamed up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat. All he did in four seasons with the Heat was go to four straight NBA Finals and win two Larry O'Brien Trophies.
Those were the first two championships of his career, and he has since taken home titles with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers as well.
The idea of James joining the Knicks picked up steam again this season, especially when he was somewhat cryptic on social media with a Statue of Liberty emoji:
He also told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, "I've had that thought in my career" when discussing whether he ever considered joining the Knicks.
James, 39, has a player option on his contract for the 2024-25 campaign and could end up leaving the Lakers and signing elsewhere during the upcoming offseason. It wouldn't have the same impact at this stage of his career as it would have in 2010 when he was in the middle of his prime, but the future Hall of Famer is still playing at a high level and would instantly make whatever team he joins that much better.
New York might not be looking for that caliber of an addition, though, as it finished with the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference this season and may only be a role player or two away from being a true title contender.
But chances are a potential recruitment video would look a lot different this time around.
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