LeBron James is one of the most skilled basketball players to ever play the game, a mashup of Magic Johnson's court vision and passing skill, Karl Malone's physicality and Bill Russell's sustained greatness. The 21-time All-NBA selection is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and the best player of his, and possibly any, generation.
There's very little that LeBron cannot do on the basketball court, but as prodigiously talented as he is on the hardwood, his greatest skill may be the way in which he's able to keep himself in the news. Basketball fans haven't been able to stop talking about LeBron since he was in high school. It's his hidden superpower.
Just as making Second Team All-NBA in his 22nd season proved that LeBron isn't ready to give in to Father Time just yet, the events of this past weekend prove that when it comes to getting people talking, LeBron still has no equal.
King James opted in to the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, a deal that will pay him $52.6 million. This was expected, but the part that has people talking is the way his agent Rich Paul framed it. Here's what he told ESPN's Shams Charania:
"LeBron wants to compete for a championship. He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we've had for eight years with [governor] Jeanie [Buss] and [general manager] Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.
"We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what's best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what's best for him."
Holy unspoken subtext, Batman! LeBron has always been a master manipulator and the league's foremost background puppeteer, but this is taking it to a new level. Does he actually want to be traded? Does he think a pairing of himself and Luka Dončić isn't enough to form a foundation that can contend for a title?
LeBron is almost certainly trying to exert his considerable influence over the Lakers to make sure that president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka does everything he can to field the best possible team next year. The Chosen One is still going strong, but he doesn't have much time left, and if the Lakers make decisions that prioritize the future over the present, it's not going to personally do him any good in his quest to finish off the most impressive resume in basketball history.
Paul's statement is tantamount to the way LeBron passive-aggressively muscled the Cavs into trading No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love in 2014 by not including the former Jayhawk in his "I'm coming home" Sports Illustrated letter that announced his return to Cleveland. That move did, in all fairness, end up leading to a championship.
LeBron's salary makes it difficult to trade him, but not impossible. Forget the cap machinations for a moment, though, and forget the overwhelming improbability that a guy who's in the midst of building a custom Beverly Hills mansion would try to leave Hollywood. Let's focus instead on the juicy stuff. If LeBron really does ask out of L.A., where would he want to go? From where I'm standing, there are three strong possibilities.
LeBron could finally get his wish of teaming up with Steph Curry
LeBron and Steph Curry have danced around the idea of playing together for years. They're the two most important players of the past two decades, and for nearly their entire careers, they've been in each other's way. LeBron's Cavs and Steph's Warriors faced off in the NBA Finals four straight times from 2015-18, and though the Dubs won three of those matchups, the Cavs' 3-1 comeback stands as one of the most impressive feats in NBA history.
LeBron and Steph are both in the twilight of their respective careers, but they're still among the best players in the league. Last summer gave an indication of what they could do when paired together, as they led Team USA to a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Steph's gravitational pull as a shooter, combined with LeBron's ability to get to the basket at will, is a combination that would wreck any defense. It would also be an NBA scriptwriter's dream, the equivalent of Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed joining forces after their two epic bouts. I guess that would make the Oklahoma City Thunder Clubber Lang.
The Warriors have all of their own first-round picks through 2029, plus they could sign-and-trade Jonathan Kuminga after extending him the qualifying offer. Throw in Moses Moody and Buddy Hield, and the framework of a deal starts to come into focus. Just like LeBron, the Warriors are all-in on one last run, so this could be the perfect marriage as they all try to chase a final ring.
The Knicks would become Eastern Conference favorites if they added LeBron
If LeBron really wants to have a shot at a title, he'd have a much better chance if he got the hell out of the Western Conference. Even more than it was when he played for the Cavs and Heat, the West is a nightmare. With Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard all on the shelf with Achilles tears, the East is right there for the taking, just as it was when LeBron made eight consecutive Finals.
The Knicks are one of the few East teams projected to be at full strength next year, and as a 51-win conference runner-up, they'll be one of the top two favorites to represent the East in the Finals, with or without LeBron.
LeBron's unselfishness would energize a Knicks squad that too often relied on the "Save us Jalen Brunson" strategy. It would also give LeBron the opportunity to play in Madison Square Garden 41 times, a place where he has put together some of his most memorable performances.
The Knicks' coaching search has become a real boondoggle after letting Tom Thibodeau go, but coaches have always been incidental to LeBron. More than any other player this century, he's been a coach on the court, able to thrive no matter who's holding the clipboard and roaming the sidelines.
The Knicks could put together a strong offer for LeBron that could allow the Lakers to field a super competitive team around Luka. Brunson is probably the only untouchable one, with Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby being possible pieces that could be moved.
Pablo Torre Finds Out once did a deep dive on the recruitment tape the Knicks used to try and lure LeBron back in 2010. Somewhere, James Gandolfini would be smiling if LeBron finally decided to don the blue and orange.
A return to the Cavs would be a fitting conclusion to LeBron's career
Just as Lost began and ended with a close-up of Jack's eye, LeBron could bookend his career by ending it where it all began — in Cleveland as a member of the Cavaliers. This wouldn't be a mere nostalgia play, though. The Cavs may have been upset by the Pacers in the second round of the playoffs, but they were the top seed in the East after winning 64 games, second only to the eventual champion Thunder.
Adding LeBron to a core of Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley would easily make the Cavs the favorites to make the Finals, and it could allow him to ride off into the sunset in a way we haven't seen since his cross-generational nemesis Michael Jordan did by hitting that shot over Bryon Russell. Jordan of course came back to finish his career for good in underwhelming fashion with the Wizards, so if LeBron was able to really say goodbye by delivering Cleveland another championship, it could be his trump card in the GOAT debate.
Having LeBron and Mitchell on the court together would allow the Cavs to slice and dice opposing defenses, and having Mobley and Jarrett Allen patrolling the paint would give LeBron the kind of rim protectors he lost when Anthony Davis was traded away in February. The Cavs' inexperience bit them in the postseason, but with LeBron, that wouldn't be a problem.
Bill Simmons, the self-described "Picasso of the Trade Machine," put forth a three-team trade idea this weekend that would see LeBron head to Cleveland, Darius Garland and Rui Hachimura go to Utah, and Walker Kessler, Lonzo Ball, Jordan Clarkson and John Collins join the Lakers.
Lakers fans are all excited to see what LeBron and a rejuvenated Luka can do with a full season together, but in the event that we've seen the last of King James in purple and gold, these three teams could provide him with a title shot and the Lakers with a fair return.