NBA insider Jake Fischer caused a riot on social media when he asserted on Monday during a Bleacher Report live stream that LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are headed for a summer split.
"Definitively, the Lakers are ready to move on from LeBron James, and I think LeBron James is ready to move on from the Lakers," Fischer said.
It's obvious that Fischer was hit with a maelstrom of backlash for the comments, as he felt the need to clarify things the next day in another BR live stream.
Jake Fischer immediately revises his LeBron James-Lakers take
Fischer's LeBron take caused waves not only on socials but in mainstream news outlets. The New York Post published a story about LeBron's upcoming "divorce" from the Lakers, using Fischer's remarks as its sole launchpad.
Fischer did his part on Tuesday to quiet the storm he'd inadvertently caused, hilariously saying that "there is no direct indication that either the Lakers or LeBron are definitively closing the door on their marriage."
In 24 hours, Fischer used the adjective "definitive" to say two opposite things about LeBron. On Monday, James was definitively gone. On Tuesday, James was definitively not gone.
The only thing definitive here is that Fischer's initial take is the one worth thinking about. In Fischer's defense, he was spot-on in communicating the notion that LeBron's Lakers days are numbered, and it has nothing to do with Jeanie Buss publicly throwing James under the bus.
James couldn't care less about groundless media drama. What he does care a whole lot about is his basketball career, and it's becoming clear as day that that career might benefit from a change of scenery in 2026-27, possibly in an epic return to Cleveland.
Financially, LeBron wouldn't be crazy about taking a huge salary hit to stay in LA, and all indications suggest he'd have to do so to remain in purple and gold. If James is going to sacrifice some money, he might as well do so on an Eastern Conference contender like the Cavs, whose path to an NBA Finals figures to be far less arduous than LA's journey through the dreaded West.
Throw in the cinematic narratives that would attach themselves to LeBron's third and final stint in Cleveland, and the move makes too much sense.
Fischer was not at all wrong in his initial forecast; perhaps just a tad too early for Lakers fans' liking.