LeBron James Would ‘Take a Pay Cut’ to Play with Superstar Friends Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade
LeBron James has said before that he only has three really close friends: New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul, and Miami Heat guard (and former teammate) Dwayne Wade. James, Anthony, and Wade were all a part of that once-in-a-lifetime 2003 NBA Draft Class, and then at some point along the way the crew picked up Paul.
Apparently one of LeBron’s career goals is to form a dream team with his All-Star friends.
“I really hope that, before our career is over, we can all play together,” said LeBron as part of Bleacher Report’s expose on his friendship with Wade. “I would actually take a pay cut to do that. It would be pretty cool. I’ve definitely had thoughts about it.”
Crap. And people say the Golden State Warriors are unfair. Imagine the Miami Heat team that made four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals and won twice in a row on steroids. James, Paul, Wade, and Anthony should be the starting lineup of Team USA in Rio this summer, not an NBA franchise.
The scary thing is, although it would be extremely unlikely, a superstar team wouldn’t be totally impossible. LeBron will most likely be a free agent at the end of this season, as he is expected to opt-out of his two-year, $47 million contract and resign with the Cleveland Cavaliers again. He takes these “small” deals to maximize his earning potential, and, no matter how many times he says he’s committed to staying in Cleveland, these deals give him a lot of flexibility to do…well, this.
Chris Paul has a player option in 2017, Anthony is under contract through 2018, and Wade will be a free agent after this season. So, by the 2018-2019 season, all four players could be on the same team.
So now the question is where would they go? LeBron claims he won’t leave Cleveland; Wade seems pretty committed to Miami, and Paul and Carmelo would be cool with moving (especially after this season). However, all four of them have some interest in Los Angeles as a city, so the Clippers may be the best compromise.
I’m just banking on Anthony Davis getting in on this group and convincing them to come to the New Orleans Pelicans.