The Los Angeles Lakers‘ pursuit of re-signing LeBron James never really got off the ground. And after ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne’s latest report, it’s becoming much easier to understand why the NBA’s all-time leading scorer ultimately decided it was time to walk away.
According to Shelburne, there were no formal contract offers between the Lakers and LeBron’s camp for an entire week leading into free agency. There weren’t even informal negotiations. No meeting or video call and no discussion about the franchise’s vision moving forward.
“For a week, neither James’ camp nor the Lakers had exchanged formal or even informal offers, according to sources on both sides of the situation. Nor had they discussed a vision for a future together, or even met face-to-face — in person or virtually.”
“The Lakers called Paul a week before free agency, when teams could approach their own free agents, to try to arrange a videoconference with James and were told he wasn’t available. Paul didn’t say why at the time, but he told ESPN it was because James had already decided he didn’t want to return to the Lakers and that there was no need for a call.”
“The Lakers had approached all of their free agents in a similar manner. After an initial video conference with Austin Reaves, an elaborate pitch meeting was scheduled at the team’s facility. Customized pillows and blankets were designed and presented to Reaves. Steaks were ordered in. His favorite country music was played. Soon afterward, he agreed to a new four-year, $185 million deal.”
“James didn’t want any of that. After the season, sources close to James said the most important factor in him re-signing would be how the Lakers approached him. He might have been willing to take a pay cut from the $52.6 million he’d made the season before, sources said, if the Lakers explained how they planned to reallocate the money.”
“They never did, and James never made himself available to meet. He had been a priority enough times in his career to know when he wasn’t one. 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. That, Paul knew, was a significant shift from just a few weeks prior, when James told Paul he was “80%” sure he’d play another season with the Lakers.”
Honestly, that’s something that I can’t get past.
I completely understand why the Lakers want to build around Luka Doncic. He’s 27 years old, one of the five best players in the world and someone you can build around for the next decade. That’s the obvious basketball decision.
But this wasn’t just another free agent. This was LeBron James.
He chose to come to the Lakers in 2018, when the franchise had missed the playoffs for five seasons in a row and was one of the worst teams in the league. Every team in the NBA would have happily cleared cap space to sign him, but still he chose the Lakers. He helped bring Anthony Davis a season later and later won the 2020 championship. LeBron kept the Lakers relevant, even when the front office continued to build questionable rosters year after year.
Without LeBron, would Anthony Davis ever come to the Lakers?
Probably not.
And let’s be honest about another part of this story. Luka Doncic didn’t arrive because the Lakers somehow outclassed the rest of the league. The Dallas Mavericks and Nico Harrison offered Luka only to the Lakers. And they were fortunate enough to capitalize on an opportunity that almost nobody thought would ever have existed.
Even one Lakers team source admitted that the franchise mishandled the entire LeBron situation.
“Honestly, I don’t know if we did enough to acknowledge the sacrifices he made in being willing to give the keys over to Luka and AR this year. Of course he has a big ego, and people can say what they want about that. But he’s also the No. 1 scorer in the history of basketball, and he really tried to do what was best for the team to win.”
That quote stands out as it comes from someone within the organization itself.
LeBron willingly took a step back when Luka arrived. Last season, after a slow start, he even accepted a third-option role, seeing how well Luka and Austin Reaves were thriving. After all these sacrifices, the least the Lakers were expected to do was to sit down with LeBron, explain their plan and vision, and allow him to make a decision.
But sadly, there wasn’t even a conversation.
And now a reunion with the Cleveland Cavaliers appears increasingly imminent, with multiple other options available as well. If this is how the Lakers handled the final stages of one of the greatest players in NBA history, perhaps it’s better for both sides to move on.
The King deserved to have a conversation. But alas, he never got one.
