As it was, the Lakers were reluctant to sacrifice their future for the sake of building the best possible team around a 40-year-old version of LeBron James.
Now, with the Lakers trading for the Next LeBron, was the Old LeBron concerned they could further prioritize the future over the present?
“What’s wrong with that?” James replied.
Before I could remind him of his public campaigns to directly or indirectly shame Lakers management into improving the roster in the weeks leading up to every recent trade deadline, he continued, “If I had concerns, I would’ve waived my no-trade clause and got up out of here.”
The declaration wasn’t entirely convincing, not because of what he said but because of how he said it.
His body language certainly didn’t project enthusiasm at the prospect of remaining with the Lakers for the remainder of his career, as his voice was monotone and his lips were pursed.
I asked James if he still envisioned retiring with the Lakers. Just five weeks ago, he said that was “the plan,” but he could become a free agent this summer by declining a player option for the 2025-26 season.
“I mean, listen, I’m here right now,” James said. “I’m here right now. I’m committed to the Lakers organization.”
More specifically, he said he was committed to helping integrate the team’s three newly-acquired players.
“As a leader of the team, as one of the captains of the team, it’s my job to make it as seamless as possible,” James said.
So he didn’t waive the no-trade provision in his contract — for now. He’s here — for now. He didn’t say he didn’t want to retire with the Lakers, but he didn’t say he wanted to either.
Maybe James didn’t want to look or sound overly delighted with his team’s overnight transformation out of respect to his handpicked sidekick and close friend Anthony Davis, who was unceremoniously traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Maybe James was concealing how upset he was.
Or, more likely, maybe James didn’t know what to think about how the Lakers suddenly went from being his team to Luka Doncic’s.
James is notoriously passive-aggressive. He often refrains from explicitly saying what he wants, but he usually finds a way to convey how he’s feeling.
When he declined to say at the end of last season whether he thought he might have played his last season for the Lakers, he was basically calling on them to surround him with better players and draft his son Bronny. When he said last month that the Lakers had to play “close-to-perfect basketball” to win, he was demanding they upgrade the team.
His words after the Lakers’ 122-97 victory over the Clippers on Tuesday night at the Intuit Dome were uncharacteristically hard to decipher.
Why?
Probably because he was still trying to figure out how the trade for Doncic would affect him.
James has spent his entire 22-year career as the most important person on every team on which he’s played, and that counts the teams’ owners. He influenced the construction of rosters, which were designed to magnify his virtues, and rightly so. He’s one of the greatest players of all time.
Even in this final stage of his career, James has wielded significant power over the Lakers. He might have lost the ability to carry a team to a championship on his own, but his stardom offered an otherwise incompetent franchise something to sell. As long as the Lakers had James, they were relevant. So when James wanted them to draft his son, they did.
Doncic cost James his leverage. Before finalizing their trade for Doncic, the Lakers should have been frightened by the thought of James retiring, as it would have sent them into the kind of Dark Age they endured between Kobe Bryant’s retirement and James’ arrival. Doncic might not deliver the Lakers a championship, but he will provide them with an identity. In addition to being a generational scorer, the Slovenian also speaks Spanish, which could help him connect with his heavily-Latino city in ways James never could.
General manager Rob Pelinka said earlier in the day at Doncic’s introductory news conference, “Luka will be at the center of what we build long-term.” Pelinka never mentioned James.
James, who was unaware a trade was in the works until it was completed, said the magnitude of the deal shocked him.
“I ain’t never seen this one,” he said. “I have seen it all up until this one. I have never been part of one transaction like that. That was different.”
Since the death of owner Jerry Buss, the Lakers have been known to take the path of least resistance. In this case, that would be for James and Doncic to play well together, for the two players to lead the Lakers to a title, and for the ageless James to teach the soft-bodied Doncic how to take better care of himself.
Such a scenario would count as a win for everyone involved, and James has started the process of building a relationship with Doncic, sitting next to the sidelined newcomer on the bench during the Lakers’ win over the Clippers and sharing his admiration of him after.
“Luka’s been my favorite player in the NBA for a while now,” James said.
For his part, Doncic said he has long admired James from a distance and said playing alongside him would be “a dream come true.”
The partnership could very well be a failure, however. James and Doncic both like to have the ball in their hands, and at least one of them will have to figure out how to play off the ball. The team’s defense could also be problematic, especially if the Lakers don’t land a center before the trade deadline on Thursday. James was solid defensively against the Clippers, but how consistent can he be on that end of the floor at his age? Doncic and Austin Reaves can guard only the most limited offensive players.
“It’s kind of hard right now to digest what it’s going to look like on the floor,” James acknowledged.
That’s probably why James was unclear about his future.
By playing for the Lakers as long as he has, James has shown he values living in Los Angeles more than he does winning another championship. The smart money would be on him to finish his career with the Lakers.
But what if the Lakers don’t want to re-sign him when he becomes a free agent after next season? What if the team wavers in its commitment to develop his son?
The choice might not be his.
For the first time in his career, LeBron James isn’t in control.