The reports of Kyrie Irving trying to persuade LeBron James to join the Dallas Mavericks were incredibly surprising and caught almost everyone off guard.

Most people see how unlikely the possibility of LeBron in Dallas is, with Shannon Sharpe being one of them. He also explained why LeBron’s family being settled in LA will be the major reason.

“I don’t think LeBron James uprooted his family from Cleveland, Ohio to come out here to LA to all of a sudden say ‘you know what, I want to spend my final couple of years in Dallas.’ I don’t think he’ll move further away from his family. I don’t know Savannah, but I really do think she likes LA. I don’t think someone of LeBron James’ caliber says, ‘I want to leave LA and I’m going to go to muggy Dallas’. Compared to LA, it’s hell.”

Los Angeles is just a very hard city to beat, especially for a player with the kind of profile LeBron James has. He is more than just a basketball player and leaving LA for Dallas means a lot of sacrifices on the personal as well as the business side of things. James has established roots in LA and will continue hoping Kyrie ends up with him instead of him having to go over to Dallas.

The Never-Ending Saga Of LeBron James And Kyrie Irving

At this point, everyone probably wishes that the Nets just traded Irving to the Lakers when they had the chance. The Lakers were offering more picks than Dallas, who ended up giving just one up for the trade, but Joe Tsai was insistent on not letting Irving get traded to the Lakers.

It seems really hard from either side to envision a trade that fits the framework of something that’ll appease all the parties involved. Kyrie won’t take the pay cut necessary to become a Lakers and the Mavs will not participate in a sign-and-trade. We won’t know the outcome until Kyrie’s decision is announced, so maybe his LA plans end up coming to fruition.