LeBron James would take pay cut to play with his brotherhood
By Tom West
LeBron James has said that he still hopes he can play with Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul before they retire, adding that he’d even be willing to take a pay cut for them to be teammates.
LeBron James’ career has already been one of the very best in NBA history, featuring four MVP awards, countless dominating performances, and two championships. He’ll go down as one of the best of all time, and after returning to Cleveland last summer, it was expected that he’d be finishing his storied career where it all began with the Cavaliers.
Yet as their chemistry struggles continue and the meteoric rise of the Golden State Warriors has placed a historically dominant team in the way of their path to a championship, another move doesn’t seem quite as absurd as it did a year ago.
Yes, it’s obviously too premature to consider his long-term future now, but it’s always going to be a point of conversation because he’s LeBron James.
In an excellent piece by Howard Beck of Bleacher Report, he went deep into the relationship and careers of LeBron’s brotherhood: Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul. When discussing their bond through the NBA for so many years and how important they are to one another, LeBron said he would even be willing to take a pay cut in order to join them, hoping that maybe one day they can play together before it’s all said and done:
"“I really hope that, before our career is over, we can all play together,” James said. “At least one, maybe one or two seasons—me, Melo, D-Wade, CP—we can get a year in. I would actually take a pay cut to do that.”Maybe at the end of their careers, James said. Maybe sooner. One more ring chase, this time with everyone on board.“It would be pretty cool,” James said. “I’ve definitely had thoughts about it.”Before bounding away, he smiles and closes with a coy chirp: “We’ll see.”"
It makes total sense that LeBron would want to unite with his brotherhood for more than just an All-Star game or some offseason fun on a banana boat. He and Melo were drafted together in 2003, and he’s been a close friend of Paul’s for many years, too. With Wade, winning two championships together is all that needs to be said. Together, they could form an incredibly talented and tight-knit team, but it’s never something that’s materialized given the different trajectories of their respective careers.
And at least for the time being, there’s absolutely no reason to consider it further. Melo doesn’t seem to be too joyous with his struggling New York Knicks, but he’s still signed for another three years unless he waives his no-trade clause to head elsewhere. As for Paul, he’s under contract with the Los Angeles Clippers for another two seasons, and while their team isn’t perfect, they have an incredibly talented core in place with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
However, those few sentences from LeBron James that Beck quoted are without doubt intriguing. For him to say that he hopes they can play together before their careers end is eye-catching in itself, hinting that maybe he would consider the unthinkable and leave Cleveland again for a perfect situation. And adding that he’d be willing to take a pay cut throws even more fuel onto the fire of speculation that this theory will cause.
The grinning “we’ll see” comment can be interpreted however you like. If you really want to blow things out of proportion, you can take the fact that LeBron unfollowed the Cavs on Twitter and argue that he’s heading for a Melo-Wade-CP3 team as fast as possible.
Maybe someday, even if it’s just for their final season before riding off into the sunset as 40-year-olds, LeBron, Melo, Wade and Paul will find some way to be teammates. Regardless of whether or not the idea results in anything, and no matter what big market city they’d be in, it’s certainly interesting to consider. Just don’t get too carried away, no matter what The King had to say.