LeBron James secretly met with Cavaliers front office in early July

LeBron James stunned the NBA world last week, opting to sign with the 76ers in free agency.But before he did, James took the time to meet with the team that drafted him first overall in the 2003 NBA Draft before making his decision.In early July, there was a meeting between James and the Cavaliers front office.

NBA insider Shams Charania knew of the meeting, but chose not to report on the matter because it was off the record.On Wednesday, the secret meeting was discussed on the Game Over podcast.Charania surprised Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul when he informed him of the tidbit.

“Now, you tell me Rich if I’m right or wrong.Is it, the Cavs front office group, Koby Altman, Brandon Weems, the Gilbert family, Grant Gilbert, meeting with LeBron in early July in Akron?” Charania said.

“Wait a minute, how did you know about that?” Paul said.“In real time, the integrity aspect matters more than anything because this was information I was told by multiple people on background, off the record.

This was something that, ethically, I couldn’t report,” Charania said.While many felt James snubbed his former teams — the Cavaliers and Miami Heat — by choosing to sign a two-year, $8 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, it appears the 41-year-old took the time to discuss a return to Cleveland earlier this summer.

Paul, James’ agent, has also previously discussed the 76ers were never seriously considered until the team traded for All-Star Jaylen Brown.James took notice of Philadelphia after the blockbuster deal.James hasn’t publicly discussed why he opted not to return to a franchise he had already won an NBA title with, but Paul has alluded to the idea that a reunion left room for uncertainty.There were still massive question marks surrounding the Heat’s depth and scoring ability.

They lost a ton of assets in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.But the Cavs did not have that same issue.Nevertheless, the 2026-27 season will mark an exciting final chapter...