LeBron James is 39 years old, and after jumping out of the $51 million player option in the 2024 offseason, LeBron James reached a new deal with the Lakers, signing a two-year, $104 million contract. This surprised many fans and media, because LeBron James can get a three-year, $164 million max salary contract.
With a difference of more than $60 million a year, LeBron James was willing to give up, which also caused a lot of controversy. The outside world is curious, what will make LeBron James give up his annual salary of more than $60 million, and still have the opportunity to compete with his second son?
According to NBA insider Brian Windhorst, LeBron James only signed a two-year contract extension with the Lakers because two years later, there are some things that he needs to do as a non-player. Therefore, LeBron James rejected a three-year long contract and chose a two-year short contract.
"There's a deadline for him to leave, and I'll tell you what it is shortly. But first we have to admit that if you're 39 years old, of course you do every year. You don't know what hurts or what's going to happen. ”
"I think that's true in any sport. So, yes, if you say it's year after year, and that's how his contract is made, that's absolute. However, he only played the most games he had since as a Lakers player. He played 71 games last season. ”
LeBron James is 39 years old, and by the time of the 2023-24 season, he is already the oldest player in the league. However, he still played an average of at least 25+5+5 per game. This is a very unnatural performance for the oldest player in the current NBA.
"This is the most since 2018. He has been outstanding this season, with 26 points, 7 rebounds or 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. There is no doubt that he had a great year. He had one of the best shooting years of his career. He's not very good defensively, but you know, he can still open it up once in a while. ”
"His son has just signed a four-year contract. You know, his son doesn't do that every year. So I don't think his intention is just to fight for another year, admitting that this may not be something he can control. So LeBron has made his list very clearly with his words and actions. ”
It is a well-known thing that LeBron James wants to compete with his son, and Bronny James was selected by the Lakers in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, and LeBron James's goal was also achieved. Now with a two-year contract extension, he and Bronny James can compete together on the same team for two years.
"He wanted to be a Lakers player, no matter how frustrated he would be when they didn't act or whatever, and he kept signing with the Lakers. He's about to enter his seventh year there, which is the longest LeBron James has been on any team, he's been switching teams, he's obviously with the Lakers, he's not going anywhere. ”
"That's the first point. Second, he made it clear that he wanted to play with his son. He's on the Lakers. He got the most money and he was playing with his son"
LeBron James has played six seasons with the Lakers since he joined the Lakers in 2018, and the 2024-25 season will be the seventh season of his Lakers career. So far in his Lakers career, LeBron James has averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game.
"What's the next thing he wants? He said it very clearly, very clearly, after playing with his son? He wants to be the boss of the upcoming Las Vegas expansion team. ”
"So, the most important thing we're going to see, aside from health, when the end of LeBron's career, is when the owners of the league set a timeline for when they're going to build an expansion team in Las Vegas."
"Nothing is certain now, they've been putting an asterisk on everything, but I suspect that once the TV rights deal is over, it should be sometime this summer, they're done. They completed the agreement, they completed the TV deal. They extended Adam Shaw's contract. ”
LeBron James has always said that after he retires, he wants to have an NBA team of his own, and LeBron James's off-court income has skyrocketed in recent years, which has allowed him to get enough capital to invest in an NBA team and become one of the team owners.
The NBA has been preparing for expansion for several years, but nothing has moved. However, in the last six months, the NBA has frequently pushed for the expansion of the team. The NBA seems intent on building new teams in Seattle and Las Vegas, and by then, those teams will need some investors.
"They're going to bring expansion, and they're probably going to pick the year of expansion. It won't be next season, so it could be two years at the earliest. And that's what I think LeBron will be looking at. Together with his partners, he hopes to be the face of the Las Vegas franchise. ”
"Whether this happens or not, a lot of things have to happen. There's a lot of money stuff, a lot of complicated stuff that we can't foresee. But that's his next step. If he can play for three years, if there won't be three years before there's an extended team in Las Vegas, or if he doesn't get an extended team, then we're going to reevaluate it. ”
"But I think he can still do a lot for the Lakers and the NBA, and he'll continue to do so."
LeBron James has said he wants Las Vegas to have its own team. However, the NBA has rules that active NBA players cannot own team shares or anything like that. Therefore, LeBron James can only wait for himself to retire and become an NBA team owner. Moreover, with the current situation of the NBA, it will take about 2 years to successfully expand, so LeBron James will need a non-NBA active player to compete for all the balls of the expansion team.
