Live Sports Network reported on July 12 that today, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst wrote about the relationship between LeBron James and the Lakers. The excerpt is as follows:
Just over two months after Perkins and Redick dined with D’Angelo Russell, a former Lakers legend, who was not invited, released an important and different statement through his long-time agent and close friend, Rich Paul.
This statement came before James decided to exercise his last year of his contract worth $52.6 million in player options.
Rich Paul told ESPN’s Shams: “We understand the difficulty of preparing for the present while striving for current victories. We 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 to make 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, suggesting that there was a larger plan or strategy brewing.
The significant trade involving D’Angelo Russell joining the Lakers formed a new reality, one of which was that James would be in the midst of a contract expiring for the first time in his 23-year career. This was the strongest signal so far, indicating that his era with the Lakers was coming to an end.
League executives around the league were trying to interpret this statement.
An executive from the Eastern Conference believed that James wanted 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 saw this as a complex emotion displayed by James because the Lakers did not offer him a new contract.
Another executive from the Western Conference saw it as a way to pressure the Lakers management to fully commit to building a 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