The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James have been partnered since 2018 and have experienced great success, notably winning the NBA Championship in 2020. Obviously, James is in the final years of his long and storied career, and exactly how it will end, and whether it will end in purple and gold, is coming into question.
LeBron chose to pick up his player with the Lakers for the 2025-26 season, but comments from his agent Rich Paul indicated that the superstar may want to go elsewhere if he feels he can’t compete for a championship this season with L.A. The Lakers are always a team that is looking to win, but they also have to prepare themselves for life without James with Luka Doncic squarely in place as the face of the franchise.
In prior years, LeBron and the Lakers have worked out different short-term extensions to add on an extra year or two to his contract, but according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, the two sides did not discuss any deals that would’ve added more years to his current deal:
Team sources say James and the Lakers did not discuss deals that would have added years to his Lakers tenure that began in 2018, either by way of extension or with him opting out and signing a new deal. Conversely, James and his camp signaled months ago that there would be no discounts offered this time around (the Lakers, team sources say, didn’t propose any sort of discounted deal out of respect for James).
This is a very interesting wrinkle and could indicate that the Lakers are ready to move on to the post-LeBron era. The franchise obviously has a ton of love and respect for James and everything he has done during his Lakers tenure, and vice versa, but the two sides might just have different priorities at this stage.
LeBron still has a lot of control in the situation as he does hold a no-trade clause and could basically choose where he wants to go should he indeed decide that he wants to move on. But the Lakers will be prepared no matter which direction this all goes.
To this point, one of the most important things for the Lakers is to maintain flexibility in future years. The franchise is reportedly preparing to make a run for a superstar to pair with Luka Doncic possibly as soon as next offseason.
