Despite Victor Wembanyama’s immense gravity, the Spurs reportedly face an uphill battle as LeBron James narrows his finalists. Rumors suggest San Antonio is sliding off the superstar's radar.
Nobody wants to be "the spurned girlfriend,'' so in the end, assuming LeBron James ends up signing somewhere rather than San Antonio, Spurs fans will surely take a "Who Needs Him?/"We Never Loved Him Anyway'' stance.
But until then, amid a great deal of secrecy, misinformation and drama surrounding the LeBron Sweepstakes?
We have a major question about a major rumor ...
How can the Spurs not be ranked among James' top six landing spots?
James is taking his time here.
“I don’t think this happens anytime soon,” agent Rich Paul told Forbes on Saturday.
No problem there.
There seem to be 10 teams in contention for the services of James, who at 41 is leaving the Lakers and seeking to win his fifth NBA title (and maybe even his fifth NBA MVP award) elsewhere.
The Spurs are on that list. No problem there.
Paul and his infamous whiteboard from his “Game Over” podcast broke down the case for the Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.
That's 10.
But now along comes an assertion from colleague Marc Stein, who asserts that "the 10 list'' has been narrowed to "the six list.''
"The Sixers, the Timberwolves, the Heat, the Nuggets, based on everything I've been told all weekend, they all still believe they're in with a chance,'' Stein said, apparently adding that the Cavaliers and Warriors are also in the mix.
But ... no Spurs?
San Antonio has the room, the need and the championship-level team featuring young Victor Wembanyama; how can the Spurs be anything but a finalist?
Maybe we should value what ESPN's Brian Windhorst says, which is in conflict with Stein's report.
Windhorst's take is that the teams pursuing James are “in the dark” and have not heard from LeBron or his camp.''
That second assertion means a Spurs connection with LeBron remains in play.
But that second assertion might be wrong ... which means amid all the secrecy, misinformation and drama, San Antonio is about to be "the spurned girlfriend'' - for reasons Spurs fans justifiably won't be able to fully understand.
