The Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline is just days away, and by the looks of it, LeBron James will be staying put with the Los Angeles Lakers. But that doesn’t mean the future Hall of Famer hasn’t had thoughts of playing for other teams, especially considering the Lakers’ recent struggles.
Related: Orlando Magic have future Hall of Fame point guard on their radar at NBA trade deadline
Could New York Knicks add LeBron James to the Garden?
Entering NBA games today, the Los Angeles Lakers sit in ninth place of the Western Conference, and are 3.5 games back of taking over the eighth seed, which would be needed to avoid the Play-In Tournament. As you might expect, a 39-year-old LeBron James doesn’t have much interest in playing out the string of a season without a chance of winning what would be his fifth NBA Championship.
Still, James also doesn’t sound like a player who’s itching to leave the Lakers, at least not mid-season. Yet, once the regular season ends? We could hear a different story from the basketball icon. After all, James controls his own destiny by way of a $51 million player option for the 2024-25 season. If he wants, he could just enter free agency and either join the highest bidder or team up with whoever he feels gives him the best chance to win.
Then again, the possibility of playing with his eldest son Bronny James, could entice LeBron to take an entirely different path.
One of those adventures could even send him to the New York Knicks, where he’d play at the legendary Madison Square Garden, reportedly LeBron’s favorite basketball arena. With his near future very much in doubt, James took a few moments to expand on what may be in store.
But then, LeBron made the statement of the evening, a stunning quote that is sure to have Knicks fans excited about the future possibilities. When asked about playing for the Knicks, James didn’t shut the idea down. In fact, he seemed to encourage it.
“I’ve had that thought in my career. I’ll probably get an opportunity to be in the lineup and play here (Madison Square Garden), especially at the latter stage of my career, I definitely don’t take it for granted. For me to be able to grace that floor throughout my career has always been a treat.”
LeBron James on playing for New York Knicks
James clearly relishes each opportunity he gets to play in what’s been referred to as the ‘Mecca of Basketball.’ Whether that opportunity arises or not remains to be seen, but with the Knicks now looking like one of the best teams in the NBA, reports of adding legends like LeBron have to be taken more seriously than before.
