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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has reportedly declined his $51.4 million option for the 2024-25 season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.
However, Charania noted that James is expected to return to the team on a new contract in free agency.
Ever since leaving the Miami Heat and signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers, James has been savvy in how he constructs his contracts. He often signed for two years with a player option after the first year, which allowed him to make more money at a time and maintain as much leverage on his current team as possible.
This looked like the first time a general manager might in effect call his bluff.
As the Feb. 8 trade deadline approached, James dug into his old playbook and threw out plenty of cryptic hints.
On Jan. 31, he posted an hourglass emoji on X, formerly known as Twitter, and declined to provide any explanation for what that represented:
James also responded to business partner Paul Rivera, who posted an apple emoji, with the statue of liberty and a crown:
Then the four-time MVP wore a New York Knicks towel during his postgame interview on the floor after a 113-105 win inside Madison Square Garden:
NBA @NBA
LeBron James 🤝 Damar Hamlin pic.twitter.com/NTBIJsRVcJ
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst thought James knew exactly what he was doing.
“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,'” Windhorst said on his Hoop Collective podcast (via the New York Post‘s Justin Terranova). “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.”
That led many to wonder whether general manager Rob Pelinka all but guaranteed James was out the door by declining to make a blockbuster deal ahead of the deadline. The Lakers maintained the status quo and 47-35 and claiming the seventh seed in the Western Conference. They lost to the Denver Nuggets in five games in the first round.
It’s safe to assume that was a disappointing outcome for James. Not to mention, one NBA title and Finals run over six years is a somewhat underwhelming run given how high he had set the standard in Miami and Cleveland.
Still, envisioning LeBron in a different uniform seems unlikely given the expectation of his return to Los Angeles.
Signing with the Lakers in the first place was never purely about the basketball. Sure, the allure of donning purple and gold spoke for itself, but James was also looking to expand his portfolio off the court, something he has more than achieved.
The empire King James has built wouldn’t disappear if he leaves Los Angeles, but managing his numerous endeavors is probably easier on the West Coast.
In addition, the Lakers are all but guaranteed to pursue the kind of monumental trade, or at least a major reshuffle, that simply wasn’t possible last summer or prior to the deadline.
McMenamin laid out in January how the front office was incentivized to stand pat to some degree since it will be able to move up to three first-round picks on the night of the 2024 NBA draft. That’s the kind of capital that can land a bona fide All-Star, one who significantly raises the team’s ceiling.
LeBron is well aware of this, so he’ll know the roster he has on 2024-25 opening night will look far different than it did to close out last season. That could be enough of an assurance to get him to sign on for at least one more year.
It also helps that the Lakers have hired his Mind the Game podcast partner JJ Redick as head coach and selected his son, Bronny, in the draft. It’s difficult to picture James leaving Los Angeles behind when the team has done so much already to theoretically keep him happy.