NBA fans can rejoice as the 2020/21 season is set to begin on December 22. There are currently mixed feelings about this, with few stating that it might be unfair to the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers. However, Finals MVP LeBron James has reversed his stand and has reportedly agreed to play whenever the season is scheduled to start. 

This indeed comes as a shocker from LeBron’s initial stand. The King did not feel too pleased about the short amount of time he was getting in-between seasons. In fact, this will go down as the shortest offseason in NBA history due to complications caused by the pandemic. 

ESPN Insiders Brian Windhorst, Bobby Marks, and Tim MacMahon recently got together on Windhorst’s podcast, where they discussed the implications of the hurried start date.

That’s when the news about LeBron’s decision broke out. “LeBron James initially pushed back against this,” Windhorst said about LeBron’s decision against the December start date. 

“Subsequently, it has been explained to me that LeBron changed his position, crossed the aisle, and said I’m okay with going December 22nd, even though I’ve got to change my routines and I’m not happy about the short offseason because it is the best thing for business.”

Furthermore, they discussed why LeBron might have altered his stand on the issue. It’s been estimated that the NBA will lose half a billion dollars if they postpone the start date by a few weeks.

As a result, the players would have to shell out some of the money in order to compensate. Money is the reason why the NBA primarily pushed for an early start date. 

LeBron James also joked about his return with Barack Obama

LeBron was one of the few players who opposed an early start date. One can always assume why he wanted to push it back. The man’s about to turn 36 and he’s got to perform at an MVP level when the season begins.

Now a short offseason isn’t going to be of much help. Thus, LeBron James needs to do massive load-management when the season starts and he’s already joking about it. When LeBron James recently connected with Barack Obama on a call, he was extremely casual about returning to play. 

Obama suggested that he might be under minutes restriction for the first half of the season to which James replied: “The first half of the season, I’m cherry-picking the whole first half of the season,” he exclaimed. 

Nonetheless, the league is all set to start on December 22. For LeBron James, a championship repeat will the most important goal to achieve. He’s done it before with a different team, but can he do it with the Lakers?