“I came here to play the last stage of my career and to finish it off here.” In December, LeBron James publicly revealed his plan to retire as a Laker, but fortunately or unfortunately, a lot has changed since then. The team traded Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic, a change that no one saw coming. All of this snowballed into rumors of James’ potential exit from the Lakers. For one, the Dubs are reportedly interested as they seek a superstar to pair alongside Stephen Curry. it’s also interesting how LeBron James’s name never came up — not even once — during the Dončić’s news conference or release. But is the ‘Akron Hammer’ interested?

Meh. He is unbothered by the buzz. GSW was looking forward to seeing James play for their side, but somewhere, they knew it would be a difficult bargain because of their salaries. So when James was about Doncic coming to the Lakers (is the team shifting its priority towards the future?) and his own future with the team, he responded,

“What’s wrong with that? If I had concerns, I would have waived my no-trade clause and got up out of here.” Yes, LeBron is tied to the LA franchise for another season and holds the power to decide his future because of the no-trade clause. And he believes adding a young superstar like Luka Doncic is not an issue. The four-time champ assured that he is committed to the Purple and Gold franchise, saying,

“I’m here right now. I’m committed to the Lakers organization. I’m here to help Luka and Maxi make the transition as smooth as possible.” While this is great news for Laker Nation, it raises concerns for the Warriors. That’s because their chances of acquiring LeBron James look bleak after his comments.

Well, LeBron James’ family might be happy if he stays in LA and ends his career here. It was last year that his agent, Rich Paul, hinted at LBJ potentially calling early retirement to please Savannah and their kids, “At some point, come on, man, it’s got to be about them. And I think from that perspective, maybe two to three (years), you know.”

The couple has been married since 2013 and, owing to James’ NBA career, they had to make a lot of sacrifices and travel. With James’ retirement, they would get to make up for the lost time.

Top Comment by mike tyler

All they need to do now is trade Bronny back to USC and get JUJU

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Debate

Sure, retiring at 40+ is not early at all. But the way James has been playing, he can easily go on for five more years if he wants to. However, family commitment could motivate him to hang his boots earlier, and that is more likely to happen if he stays with the Lakers and rides out his current contract. In that case, this won’t be the first time Joe Lacob (owner of the Warriors) failed in LBJ’s pursuit!

LeBron James has rejected the Warriors once before!

Surprisingly, this is not the first time the Bay Area franchise is going after King James. As per reports, they made a serious push to acquire him two seasons ago and there was even an ongoing conversation between Joe Lacob and Jeanie Buss. The deal also had the backing of LeBron James’ longtime pal, Draymond Green. So, what went wrong?

Turns out, Rich Paul “adamantly opposed the idea” as he was worried about what it would do to LBJ’s image. Of course, we all know how Kevin Durant is criticized for joining the Warriors even to this day.

As per veteran insider Marc Stein, “Paul implored both teams to scrap the concept… largely because he wanted to insulate James from potential backlash over switching teams for the fourth time in his career.” Sure enough, the deal never materialized and LeBron James stayed a Laker.

Well, it looks like the Warriors are heading toward a similar outcome this time. And that puts them in serious trouble, as another one of their pursuits would end in failure. But there is still hope that they will acquire one of the multiple All-Stars they have inquired about ahead of the deadline.

Meanwhile, LeBron James is excited to begin a new era with Luka Dincic. Are you hyped as well?