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Brendan Haywood Hilariously Turned Down LeBron James’ Recruitment Attempt Before ‘The Decision’ In 2010

On July 8, 2010, ESPN had its infamous live-broadcast of LeBron James’ decision, where he eventually announced that he would sign with the Miami Heat.

But before deciding to join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach, James tried to recruit players to Cleveland in order to build a stronger team in his hometown.

One of the players LeBron tried to recruit was Dallas Mavericks center Brendan Haywood, who also was a free agent that year. When James asked Haywood if he would take a pay cut in order to build something special, he got hilariously turned down.

“So, it is my free agent year, I’m in Dallas. I made alright money on the first deal that I signed on my rookie deal. But I hadn’t got the big money, I was making like five a year.

It’s free agency time, and this is when Bron is trying to make his decision on where he is going to go. He was actually recruiting guys to come to Cleveland. Jawad Williams hits me up and is like ‘LeBron wants your number’.

So, I get a text like ‘Yo, This King James.’ I was like, first of all, why are you calling me. He is like I wanted to know if you would be willing to take a pay cut because I know what you are supposed to get on the market. But, wanting to know if you would be willing to take a pay cut to be a part of something special. I’m thinking to myself, boy, I wouldn’t take a pay cut to play with the 92 Bulls.”

https://twitter.com/OpenCourtFB/status/1325388268007985152

The outcome of this situation is well known. As James went to Miami, Haywood stayed in Dallas and the two would meet in the NBA Finals just later that season, in which the Mavericks beat Heat in six games.