A new report suggests that the Los Angeles Lakers superstar Lebron James could begin to “reconsider his future” with the organization and pass on making $51 million next season if they don’t make a meaningful run in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
This has not at all been the season that Lakers fans expected. After surprising the basketball world by reaching the Western Conference Finals last year, the team is struggling to stay in the race for a Play-In Tournament spot.
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Heading into their matchup on Thursday night against the Chicago Bulls, the Lakers are a game under .500 and a loss away from being outside the playoff picture. It is part of why there have been rumors for weeks that they could make a trade before the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline. However, any potential deal doesn’t mean they will have the same success this season as they did last year.
And that is a key issue in a new report from The Athletic Lakers reporter Jovan Buha. In a Thursday chat with Hoops Hype, he claimed that Lebron James is still hunting for titles and desires a fifth championship ring. However, if it seems like LA is not built to get him there, he isn’t against the idea of seeking out championship pastures elsewhere.
Lebron James stats (2023-24): 24.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 7.4 APG, 1.3 SPG, 39% 3PT
“If the Lakers are in a position where at the end of the season they end it with a whimper and LeBron doesn’t make the playoffs, I think that’s a situation where he potentially reconsiders his future,” Buha said.
What is key in this situation is that James has a $51 million player option for next season that is hanging over him and the team. While Buha believes that is too much for him to pass on, he doesn’t believe it is out of the realm of possibility for the savvy businessman worth a billion dollars to leave that money and a messy roster behind to seek out a title run elsewhere.
Furthermore, if his son Bronny leaves USC and enters the NBA Draft in June that could be a second reason for the four-time MVP to leave La La Land.
“Potentially, Bronny ends up on a team that has cap space and they can work some things around to sign LeBron, but in pretty much any scenario that he’d join Bronny on a different team, that’s going to require him taking a substantial pay cut,” Buha said. “Maybe he wants to play with him that badly that it’s not about the money and it’s about the experience and helping shepherd his son into his NBA career.”
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In the end, the Los Angeles Lakers reporter believes there are more reasons for James to stay in California, however, these are certainly factors in play if the team does not live up to expectations this spring.