Dirty Laundry? Insider Hints Knicks Towel Sent Message About LeBron James' Future

While increasingly coy about his NBA future, LeBron James' use of a New York Knicks-branded towel could've dropped hints about the road ahead, Brian Windhorst claims.

Don't forget to bring a towel.

LeBron James certainly didn't on Saturday night, as he needed one after he and Anthony Davis shouldered the load for the Los Angeles Lakers in a 113-105 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Taden. James had a team-best 24 points in the effort that ended the Knicks' nine-game winning streak.

In the immediate aftermath, James draped himself in a Knicks-branded towel during his postgame interview with ABC's Lisa Salters. While there's hardly anything unusual about James ... or any other player, for that matter ... donning a towel after a hard-fought victory, ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst felt there was more to his postgame attire than mere relief.

Brad Penner, USA TODAY SPORTS

"Obviously, LeBron often wears towels and this is why it’s so brilliant because he has perfect deniability,” Windhorst said on the Hoops Collective podcast episode released on Monday. "He can just be like, ‘Oh, I just put a towel around my shoulders. What are you talking about? You guys are out of your mind.’" 

"But this is what LeBron excels at. He computes all this stuff. Of course, he was cognizant and aware he was putting on a towel that said New York Knicks. Why would he mess with the Knicks? Because he was using the Knicks as a tool to pressure the Lakers.”

It might sound flimsy, but if anyone's well-versed in James' schemes and calculations, it's probably Windhorst, who has covered his career since his high school days at St. Vincent-St. Mary. 

James' future was one of the major talking points heading into the Lakers' weekend visit: the 39-year-old has a $51.4 million player option for next season and it's far from a certainty that he'll exercise it. While the Knicks have made previous, futile attempts to land James' services, their active success and sense of stability headlined by point guard Jalen Brunson has reignited the fantasy of seeing "The King" don blue-and-orange. 

Combine that with a reported peace summit between James' agent Rich Paul and Knicks president Leon Rose and the idea of James moving to Manhattan is possibly more realistic than it has ever been. Windhorst said that he believes that James doesn't have "any intention to leave the Lakers" but admitted that the Knicks are "very attractive going forward" as a free agent destination.

Windhorst reiterated that, even if the Knicks don't play James' game, Rose and Paul's meeting would not be in vain.

James Quiet About Future, Loud About Brunson

“Whatever hatchet they may have buried, it’s almost like the Knicks need Klutch clients eventually whoever it is, it doesn’t have to be LeBron," Windhorst said. "Somebody is going to want to play in New York. Somebody is going to look at Jalen Brunson and say, ‘You know that wasn’t the worst decision in the world.’”