Joakim Noah made the case for LeBron James to finish his career with the Cavaliers months before James ultimately signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Joakim Noah sat inside Rocket Arena on Jan. 28 and made a case for LeBron James to finish his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"He's still got juice," Noah said.
Noah said James should take $10 million and play for a contender. "Why shouldn't he return to Cleveland?" he said.
The scene appears in a feature published Thursday by The Athletic's Joel Lorenzi and Jeshua Kidd, reported over three days Noah spent in the city filming an episode of "Nomad," his travel series.
Six months later, James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.
After weeks of dominating the NBA news cycle, the deal was finalized on July 24. He agreed to a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option. James officially put pen to paper two days later on a deal that also included a 15% trade kicker. Cleveland was among the teams many saw in the mix.
"I still truly love this game, and I have more to give," James wrote in a series of posts on X.
Noah spent 13 seasons antagonizing Cleveland, and the city has not forgotten the reason. Cleveland took a 2-0 lead in the 2010 first round on April 19, and Noah said afterward that he had no regrets about calling the city depressing.
"You like it? You think Cleveland's cool?" Noah said. "I mean, I never heard anybody say, 'I'm going to Cleveland on vacation.'"
The situation with James occurred later. Noah yelled at him during Game 3 of the 2015 Eastern Conference semifinals, and James responded afterward.
"I'm a father with three kids, you know?" James said. "It got very disrespectful."
Noah is 41, and James will turn 42 in December. They are the same age, but James joined the league four seasons earlier. Noah was NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2014, appeared with the LA Clippers in the 2020 bubble, and retired in 2021.
Cleveland defeated the Lakers 129-99 that night. James ended with 11 points, 5 assists, and 6 turnovers.
The tribute ran during a first-quarter timeout at the 7:46 mark, highlights of James scoring 25 straight points against Detroit in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals. It was the first time the Cavaliers had reached for that game instead of the 2016 NBA Finals or the 2003 draft. James wiped his eyes with a towel. He crossed 60,000 career regular-season minutes the same night, the first player in league history to reach the mark.
Cleveland made the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2018, beating Toronto and Detroit before the New York Knicks swept them in four. New York went on to win the NBA Finals against San Antonio.
The Cavaliers' core still includes Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. Harden declined a $42.3 million option and agreed to a three-year, $97 million deal. Cleveland completed a sign-and-trade for Peyton Watson the same day, four years and $88 million, sending Max Strus and Dennis Schröder out in a multi-team deal that brought back Cam Whitmore. Mario Hezonja's one-year contract is worth $2.8 million. It is non-guaranteed until Nov. 15.
ESPN has Cleveland finishing ahead of James' 76ers this season.
At the CNBC Sport x Boardroom Game Plan Summit in New York, Silver mentioned in July that James was being considered for opening week and Christmas Day.
"Where LeBron plays will affect the schedule," Silver said. "So I would like him to make his announcement already, so we can finish the schedule, because, as you might imagine, the teams are calling us, the networks are calling us, and everybody wants to lock in the schedule. But it will influence how we set the schedule, how we set opening week, Christmas Day, etc. So I need him to make a decision."
The 2026-27 schedule puts the two together three times. The Cavaliers start the regular season in Philadelphia on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, James' home debut with the 76ers.
James returns to Rocket Arena on Nov. 6 on Prime Video and again on March 1 on Peacock.
