It has finally happened. After over a year of the Lakers not being able to construct a competent team around him and Anthony Davis, LeBron has hinted towards an exit from the team despite signing a contract extension in the summer. His contract expires in the summer of 2024, so he will have to either spend another season with the Lakers or demand a trade.
The Lakers’ loss to the Miami Heat tonight followed a similar path as most of their losses, where the team is close in battle until LeBron subs out and the team collapses. After the game, LeBron openly said this isn’t the level of a team he wants to play on as he isn’t motivated to play basketball unless it’s winning basketball.
“I don’t wanna finish my career playing at this level from a team aspect,” said James after the game. “I still want to compete for championships. I know what I can bring to any ball club with the right pieces. I’m a winner and I want to win. And I want to win and give myself a chance to win and still compete for championships,” James said after the game. “That has always been my passion, that has always been my goal since I entered the league as an 18-year-old kid out of Akron, Ohio. And I know it takes steps to get there, but once you get there and know how to get there, playing basketball at this level just to be playing basketball is not in my DNA. It’s not in my DNA anymore. So, we’ll see what happens and see how fresh my mind stays over the next couple years.”
James being on the move would set the market on fire but it doesn’t look like this is an outward attempt at getting away from the Lakers. Most likely, he is putting pressure on Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss to make a change before the change is him leaving the team.
The Lakers Have No One To Blame But Themselves
When LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009, people hated him as he was leaving his hometown team, in his prime, without delivering on the promise of a championship. With the Lakers, he has quite literally done everything on the court to keep them competitive for the last 3 years. Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka haven’t supported LeBron.
The roster is entirely dependent on the health of LBJ and Anthony Davis. The Russell Westbrook trade might go down as the worst in modern history if what it leads to is LeBron leaving the team. This kind of pressure should hopefully stir the Lakers into action unless they’d rather move LBJ for assets and then hope to rebuild the team from scratch and get the equity they lost in previous trades back by moving LeBron and AD.
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