Even if LeBron James was no longer playing at an All-Star level, the Los Angeles Lakers would have business reasons to bring the King back to LA for his 24th NBA season. LeBron sells tickets like almost no one else, just as he makes the Lakers’ television partners happy. To move on from Bron this offseason would be to walk away from a ton of guaranteed revenue.
Then there’s the fact that LeBron is still a very good NBA basketball player. He is still playing at an All-Star level, and although he’s not the best fit alongside Luka Doncic, there’s a reason multiple teams are monitoring James’ free agency. He still adds A LOT to winning at age 41-going-on-42.
LeBron James has always been worth more than he gets paid
Between LeBron being a main ticket attraction and still one of the top 15 or 20 players in the sport, he’s worth max money, even at his age. Of course, there’s no chance that James is going to get paid max money this offseason, and that isn’t a reflection of his enduring talent, but rather a reflection of the market for an aging LeBron in this fiscally restricting “apron era” of the league.
"James is still producing at a level that should make his upcoming salary a very big number,” The Athletic’s Dan Woike wrote this week. “The economics of the NBA, his team and their competitors, though, could be setting him up to be woefully undercompensated again. … While he’s earned $581,375,548 over 23 years, he’s certainly provided the league more than $25 million in annual value. He’s worth more — and he’s known it.”
Woike’s take was spot-on, and it’ll be fascinating to see what kind of number LeBron and the Lakers land on this summer; that is, if they are able to agree on a number at all. The thing about LeBron’s immeasurable value is that it provides James’ agent, Rich Paul, with quite the leverage weapon. And while LeBron’s market isn’t as bounteous as it may have been in a prior era of the NBA (as aforementioned), Paul’s insistence that “10 or 12” teams are calling about James tells us that Klutch Sports Group will negotiate with the Lakers as if LeBron is a white-hot commodity, even if he’s not in reality. That’s good business on their part, at the end of the day.
LeBron James' value is still sky-high, especially at the free agency negotiating table
Could this lead to LeBron and the Lakers going in different directions? Could the Golden State Warriors swoop in and sign James to the figure that he’s looking for, setting up a partnership with Stephen Curry that will make each player’s visibility in 2026-27 soar even higher than their already-astronomical levels? It’s certainly possible.
LeBron’s mystery salary figure is connected to his limitless value in a basketball-business hybrid mechanism that few if any players can compete with. It’s a mystery that has Lakers fans on the edge of their seats as they await that fateful notification from Shams Charania about LeBron’s future.
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