The LeBron James offseason speculation just took a gigantic leap forward.
There have been all the garden variety trade and free agency rumors as the Lakers' superstar enters the final season of his contract in Los Angeles.
But this? This is new.
Sports Business Journal reports that there's a fear James may leave the NBA to start a basketball league with Saudi Arabian money as its backing.
An NBA team executive told SBJ: "I'll tell you, you may think I'm crazy, but I think the catalyst of this (NBA Europe plan) going quicker is they're worried LeBron and Maverick (Carter) are going to get the Saudis and start like a league. I think without a question, (the NBA) thinks it's direct competition."
The executive explained his logic like this when SBJ asked a follow-up question: "LeBron doesn't give a s—. Not if Saudi gives LeBron $200 million in cash and calls it a night."
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It would be one of the biggest stories in the history of sports if LeBron shunned the NBA to head to a Saudi Arabian league for record-setting money.
It's a story that has already been told in soccer, with a heck of a lot of parallels.
One of the greatest players ever, Cristiano Ronaldo, chose to leave European football in the final years of his career to play for unfathomable money in Saudi Arabia. Many of the world's other top players followed him to a league that already existed but has taken on a new scope since the arrival of such stars.
James, 40, could surely compete on the basketball floor for a number of more years if he really wanted to. His value may be just as large as the face of a movement and as someone who can help get things done.
The politics of sport in Saudi Arabia aside, a new basketball league somehow backed by James would change the game entirely.
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