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Cleveland Cavaliers SF LeBron James being recruited to play baseball by Lehigh Valley IronPigs

Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James is being recruited to play baseball for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

CLEVELAND -- The future of Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James has been a much-debated, much-discussed topic since he last signed to remain with his hometown team, and the conversation has intensified as the 2018 NBA Playoffs have continued.

And ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors tonight, the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, threw their hat into the ring.

Earlier in the postseason, the IronPigs said for James to surpass Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan as the greatest player of all time, he needed to come play baseball, just as “His Airness” did when he joined the Birmingham Barons in the mid-1990s.

The IronPigs upped the ante by launching a campaign on Twitter hours ahead of tonight’s game at Oracle Arena.

Lehigh Valley’s recruitment of James is just the latest in what has become a trend since the calendar flipped to 2018.

After Philadelphia started the “Billboard Battle” in late February and Los Angeles and Portland continued the recruiting effort when the Cavaliers made a west-coast road trip, New York joined the fray in an attempt to recruit James to sign with the Knicks in free agency this summer.

The New York City-based marketing firm, NYC Ads Co. purchased the latest billboard at the corner of 31st and 7th Avenue asking that if James feels he is the “King of New York? Prove It.”

NYC Ads Co. is using the hashtag, #KINGJAMESNYC18, in its recruiting campaign.

“Same reaction as I’ve had to every last one of them this year,” James said after shootaround at Madison Square Garden back in April. “I think it’s very humbling that cities and organizations want me to play for them, especially at this point and juncture in my career.”

Credit: Maddie Meyer
Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James (center) celebrates a basket in the second half of an 87-79 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden in Boston.

In the days ahead of Philadelphia’s game in Cleveland on March 1, fans of the 76ers did their own recruiting by posting billboards along the heavily-travelled Northeast Ohio freeway, Interstate 480.

Those billboards utilized the hashtag, “#PHILLYWANTSLEBRON” in red, white and blue lettering in an effort to recruit James to Philadelphia, where after a long rebuilding process, the 76ers have a roster full of talented young players who have developed into one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

“It is, absolutely,” James said when asked if the Philadelphia billboards were flattering. “You could say it’s a distraction. It’s not. It’s actually very flattering that I’m sitting here at 33 and in my 15th year and teams, or guys, I don’t want to say teams because that becomes tampering, but people in their respective city want me to play for them. That’s cool, I think. That’s dope.”

Credit: David Butler II
Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James drives to the hoop against Boston Celtics power forward Al Horford during Game 7 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden in Boston.

Days ahead of the game between the Cavaliers and Lakers at Staples Center, billboards emerged in Los Angeles in an attempt to recruit James to California when he re-enters free agency this summer.

Using the hashtag, #LABron, the two billboards displayed messages of “FORGET THE PROCESS, WE WIN BANNERS!” and “Cleveland & Philly, You Can’t Compete with L.A.” Now in his 15th NBA season out of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, James has led the Cavaliers back to The Finals for the fourth consecutive season.

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