LeBron James' agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, informed the Los Angeles Lakers hours before the official start of free agency that the 41-year-old would play elsewhere in his 24th NBA season. As Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported on Monday, it was a conclusion the superstar had reached at least one week prior, when LA first reached out.
By the time Los Angeles called a week before free agency, Paul said James was already "a thousand percent" certain he was ready to move on from the Lakers.
Paul spoke with ESPN, but said he didn't "press" LeBron on why he went from being "80% sure he'd play another season with the Lakers" to knowing he didn't want to return within a month. As Shelburne wrote, James knew he was no longer a priority.
After the season, sources close to James said the most important factor in him re-signing would be how the Lakers approached him.
There was once a time when LeBron was LA's top priority, as in before February 2025, when the team acquired Luka Dončić. Since that day, the Lakers' mindset shifted, and understandably so.
Los Angeles made it clear it wanted James back for another season, but it wasn't a priority, at least not in the way he would've liked.
Lakers' offseason wasn't centered around keeping LeBron
It's unclear how James would've preferred Los Angeles to approach him, as Shelburne reported that the team "approached all of their free agents in a similar manner." When they did the same for LeBron, hoping to schedule a videoconference, he already knew he no longer wanted to be around. Could they realistically have done anything to change that?
Again, the Lakers' focus has been on rounding out the roster around Dončić, which meant re-signing Austin Reaves, landing a center, adding shooting, and defensive-minded wings. They could've factored LeBron into that equation, as he proved last season that he is willing to be the No. 3 option, but keeping him wasn't a necessity. Their offseason didn't hinge on his happiness, as it once did.
If the Dončić trade had never happened, this summer could've looked a lot different for the Lakers and LeBron, or maybe he would've been fed up with the team's outlook and left anyway. Who knows?
Los Angeles preferred to keep LeBron around (though finances probably still would've been an issue even if he was open to staying). As Shelburne wrote, though, the front office had a plan that didn't include him, giving them more flexibility to round out the roster, and that's what happened.
It was a reality they were willing to accept, made possible by the Dončić trade. It is, and has been for the past year and a half, all about Luka.
Add us as a preferred source on Google