LeBron James snubs Panther Racing

Panther Racing regrets to announce today that it was unable to come to a contract agreement with reigning NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James, who plans to announce his future destination live on ESPN this evening at 9 p.m. (EST). Several attempts to reach James’ agent were unsuccessful as Panther Racing management had hoped to lure LeBron to Indianapolis to sign with the two-time IZOD IndyCar Series champions.

The team intended to add LeBron in 2011 as a teammate to current No. 4 National Guard driver and former Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon.

“I think, like a lot of teams, we really felt like it was our obligation to give our best efforts to sign LeBron to join Panther Racing," team co-owner John Barnes said. “He’s a tremendous athlete and obviously he would have been a great addition to both Panther and the IZOD IndyCar Series, but we knew it was a long shot going into negotiations. We wish LeBron and his family all the best in his future endeavors and hope that when he hits the free agent market again he’ll consider Panther Racing."