As the Los Angeles Lakers made an organizational shift to Luka Doncic, team president Rob Pelinka is still holding out hope that LeBron James would remain a Laker for the rest of his career.
“Yeah, [I expect him to retire as a Laker],” Pelinka told reporters during the press conference that marked Doncic’s long-term commitment to the franchise.
On Aug. 2, Doncic signed a three-year, $165 million maximum extension, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. While Doncic is beaming with excitement, James showed angst since he picked up his $52.6 million player option after the Lakers did not offer an extension.
Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul issued a strong statement, which Pelinka, Doncic and the Lakers were made aware of.
“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Paul told ESPN’s Shams Charania in June. “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 Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.”
Paul added that they would monitor the Lakers’ offseason and then evaluate “what’s best for James” at this stage of his career.
LeBron’s Passive-Aggressive Posturing in Offseason
During the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, James turned down ESPN’s request to talk about what Paul said.
“I ain’t got nothing to talk about,” James was quoted telling ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Then, two days before Doncic signed his lucrative extension, James posted a cryptic message on his Instagram.
“Say whatever you want, but you damn sure won’t be able to say I didn’t put in the WORK!! 👑 . We’ll see what happens when I no longer exist. Man, F this Shhhhhh,” James wrote on his Instagram with a series of photos of his early offseason workout.
While there is a palpable tension between James and the Lakers, Pelinka denied there is.
“So all the interactions we’ve had with LeBron and his camp, Rich in particular, have been positive and supportive, so very professional and Rich [Paul] has been great,” Pelinka told reporters. “The dialogue with him has been open and constant. So that helps answer that question.”
Retiring as a Laker Would Be ‘Great’
For the first time in James’ career, his team doesn’t orbit around him. The Lakers are no longer James’ team. It’s Doncic’s team now.
And for the first time since joining the Lakers in 2018, James enters the season without a player option. He will become an unrestricted free agent after next season.
While James will have the ability to choose where to sign next, Pelinka hopes he will remain with the Lakers if he continues playing.
“And in terms of LeBron’s career, I think the number one thing we have to do there is respect his and his family’s decision in terms of how long he’s gonna play,” Pelinka told reporters. “That’s first and foremost, and we want to respect his ability to come up with his timetable on that. I think that’s, that’s really important. But if he had a chance to retire as a Laker, that would be great.”
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