Warriors Draymond Green sends message to Adam Silver over ex-Laker LeBron James free agency comment

The entire NBA offseason has been overshadowed by LeBron James and where he will play next season. James is entering the 24th season of his career, something that has never been done before, and it might not be his final season in the league.

The four-time NBA champion has seemingly put free agency on hold while the basketball world waits for his decision. Last week, James provided a small glimpse into his timeline when he addressed the wait.

“I won't hold you guys up too much longer,” James said.

James has kept everyone in the dark throughout the process, including the teams that have reached out to his agent, Rich Paul. There have been no clear indications about which team James will join, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver hopes a decision comes soon.

“I would like him to make his announcement already, so he 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,” Silver said.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green discussed the situation on his podcast and had a message for Silver, explaining that publicly putting pressure on James was unlikely to help speed up the process.

“If I'm a young guy, the first thing that I'm thinking is "Man, we have leverage, what can we do with that leverage? Hey NBA Players Association, there's leverage, what can you do with the leverage?" That statement to me is deep... I am expecting decision sooner rather than later but trust me, that definitely didn't speed it up,” Green said.

There is no doubt that Silver wants to finalize the NBA schedule and complete the offseason process, but publicly calling out the league’s longest-tenured player may not have been the best approach. Green is close friends with James, so it is fair to assume he understands how James is approaching this decision.

James continues to weigh each option for his future, and many around the league believe his process should be allowed to play out on his own timeline. Silver may have overstepped with his comments surrounding James, and it could potentially have the opposite effect of what the league wants by delaying a decision even further.

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