Live Sports Network reported on July 12 that Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst, ESPN’s insiders, discussed the relationship between LeBron James and the Lakers. The excerpt is as follows:
Just over two months after Perkins and Redick dined with Dončić, an uninvited Lakers legend released a significant and different statement through his long-term agent and close friend, Rich Paul.
This statement was made before James decided to exercise his final player option worth $52.6 million in his contract.
Rich Paul told ESPN’s Shams: “We understand the difficulty of preparing for the current victory while also looking ahead. We do indeed hope to evaluate what is best for LeBron at this stage. He wants every remaining season to be meaningful, and the Lakers understand this, supporting him and hoping for the best decision.”
The statement immediately caused a stir in the NBA. Despite it being accompanied by news that James had chosen to exercise his $52.6 million player option, binding him to the Lakers until the 2025-26 season, it read like a farewell letter, hinting at larger plans or strategies brewing.
The blockbuster trade of Dončić joining the Lakers has created new realities, one of which is that James will be in the midst of an expiring contract for the first time in his 23-year career. This is the strongest signal so far, indicating that his era with the Lakers is coming to an end.
Executives in the league are trying to interpret the statement.
An executive from the Eastern Conference believes that James wants to leave Los Angeles.
According to sources, several teams including the Golden State Warriors—who tried to trade James during the 2023-24 season—are once again considering whether to make a bid.
An executive from the Western Conference sees this as a complex emotion displayed by James because the Lakers did not offer him a new contract.
Another executive from the Western Conference thinks it’s about pressuring the Lakers management to put all their effort into building the team this season rather than maintaining a clean salary cap strategy in the summer of 2026 and 2027—by which time James’s salary would also disappear from the books.
2025 NBA offseason