sport news Knicks' long-rumored LeBron James 2010 recruitment video surfaces showing ... trends now
The long-rumored video produced by the New York Knicks in 2010 to entice LeBron James to sign in the Big Apple has finally surfaced, showing everyone from Donald Trump to Tony Soprano urging the NBA superstar to come to Madison Square Garden.
'The real winners of the world want to be here,' Trump said in the video, which was unearthed by podcaster Pablo Torre. 'They want to come to New York, whether it's Wall Street, whether it's fashion, no matter what it is, this is the place the real winners want to be.'
James was undoubtedly the biggest free agent in league history at the time, and with a bevy of teams in position to sign him, a string of NBA executives paid the Akron native a visit to make their pitches.
For years, the Knicks were rumored to have produced a video for the occasion utilizing the team's star-studded fan base as a marketing tool. Aside from Trump as well as Sopranos stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, there were appearances by Chris Rock, Spike Lee, Robert De Niro, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, and since-disgraced Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein.
Ultimately James would choose Miami, where he would win two of his four NBA titles, but not for any lack of effort on the part of Knicks executives Donnie Walsh and Glen Grunwald.
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LeBron James is seen on July 8, 2010 in Connecticut to announce where he'd be signing
James Gandolfini reprised his role as Tony Soprano as part of the effort to recruit LeBron
Edie Falco also got into the spirit by pretending to be looking for a new home for James
The video begins with a short scene acted out by Gandolfini and Falco, who were happy to reprise their roles as Tony and Carmela
