LeBron James still hasn’t made his call in free agency, and the wait is starting to stretch long enough that even Adam Silver has publicly asked him to move things along so the schedule can be set.
Shaquille O’Neal, though, isn’t buying the idea that James is dragging this out for the wrong reasons. In a conversation with Sports Illustrated’s Claudette Montana, O’Neal said James is simply being careful at the end of his career.
“I mean, it’s the ending of his career, I’m sure he’s gonna pick wisely,” O’Neal said. “I’m sure he wants to go somewhere where he has a really good chance of winning.
A lot of people call it ring chasing, it’s not ring chasing. It’s just defining your legacy.
If you can go somewhere else where you can get one, it’ll be good.
“I have four, but in my mind I should have seven, and that haunts me all the time,” O’Neal continued. “More power to LeBron.
If he can get with a team and then try to get one more ring. At this point, when you talk about LeBron’s legacy, right now we’re just talking about extra credit.”
James, 41, is chasing what would be his fifth championship, and O’Neal made it clear he believes the star has earned the right to take his time and make the choice that fits him best.
That view stands in contrast to what Charles Barkley has said. O’Neal’s friend and coworker has argued James would be cheating his way to another title if he landed with the Golden State Warriors or the Philadelphia 76ers, saying the 22-time All-Star has no connection to either team and should instead go to the Cleveland Cavaliers, his hometown club.
O’Neal isn’t putting that kind of label on any destination. He said he won’t call it ring chasing no matter where James ends up.
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the five teams in the mix are the Cavaliers, 76ers, Warriors, Miami Heat, and Minnesota Timberwolves. Of that group, the 76ers are the only one that can really be called a serious contender without James, and even that depends on Joel Embiid’s health. The others would need the NBA’s all-time leading scorer to lift them.
And James would hardly be just along for the ride. In 2025-26 with the Los Angeles Lakers, he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game.
The fact that so many teams are still in the hunt for him says plenty about where he stands in the league at this stage of his career. A decision may be coming soon, too. NBA insider Dave McMenamin reported the hope is James will decide next week, and that an Eastern Conference team is likely to win the race.
That would point to the 76ers, Heat, or Cavaliers, with a return home carrying obvious appeal if that’s the path James chooses.
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For Philadelphia, it lands as another reminder that the Sixers pursuit of James is real enough to draw national attention. The team has been active in that chase, but Hardens comments also underscored how wide the competition is, with Cleveland in the mix and other contenders waiting to see where James decides to take his next chapter. [Read more 🡒]