Following weeks of speculation, it’s finally official now: LeBron James is leaving the Los Angeles Lakers. James has said his goodbyes to the Lakers, and his agent, Rich Paul, spoke about the decision to part ways on his Game Over podcast.
“We normally sit down, and we talk about best fit,” Paul said, via Heat Central. “Obviously, he’s always been a max player, so that’s always been [a factor], the team have to have max cap space… But for this particular time, Max [Kellerman], it was a lot different. And I asked him, I said, ‘Listen, this is going into Year 24. You don’t owe anybody, anything. You’ve accomplished more than any players ever accomplished. You got every record, all the stuff. Let’s find one foundational thing to build off of, and if I ask you that, what would it be?”
Paul, CEO of Klutch Sports Group, told James he didn’t want an answer right away. He just wanted his client to think about it. A day or so later, James called Paul back and told him that complete happiness is what he wants.
“So if it’s about happiness, then it can’t be about money,” Paul said. “If it’s about happiness, because if it’s the most money, then it’s not necessarily the most happiness, et cetera… I said, ‘Well, where are you at in terms of returning right here? Where we at?’ And he said 80 percent.”
That’s a surprise. Paul revealed that this conversation took place several weeks ago. James was almost certain he wanted to return to the Lakers, but as time passed, that percentage went down.
“Once he got to a place to where he said, ‘Listen, man, I understand where things are, and I get it. I know that’s where I could probably make the most money. But for me, where I’m at today, it’s probably not the best thing for me to do. I probably would just go away from that,'” Paul said. “And I said, ‘Are you 100% sure?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I’m 100% sure that that’s not a place I would want to return.'”
Paul revealed he had double and triple-checked with James to make sure this was his final decision. It was.
Now, NBA insider Shams Charania reported that happiness was the biggest factor in James’ decision to leave the Lakers. The 22-time All-Star felt the relationship had run its course.
Co-host Max Kellerman wondered why James changed his mind, and Paul didn’t have an answer. James somehow came to the conclusion that staying with the Lakers wouldn’t bring him happiness.
Paul then shared here that his conversations with the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, Rob Pelinka, and head coach JJ Redick were cordial, but James ultimately decided there was no need for them to meet.
“Rob and I, we talked,” Paul said. “The first day that they can talk to their own player, I talked to him and JJ. We talked. And we’ve had cordial conversations throughout, and I know there were…public talks about us supposedly meeting and things like that, and we were trying to figure out what that looks like and get things in line. And it just got to a place to where Bron was like, there doesn’t really need to be a meeting.”
Kellerman then asked Paul whether the Lakers had made an offer, and it turns out they were never given the opportunity to.
“There didn’t need to be one,” Paul said. “… They wanted to bring them back, obviously, but there didn’t need to be one. And I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time.”
All this is quite interesting.
James now leaves the Lakers after eight seasons in which he averaged 25.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game. He famously led the team to a title in 2020, just two years after he joined in 2018. You’d have thought back then that multiple titles were on the cards for James and the Lakers, but they never really came close again. It will be interesting to see if either does now, after parting ways.
As for what James will be looking for in his new team in his pursuit of happiness, Paul touched on that as well.
“I just think it’s more so along the lines of having the ability to compete for the possibility of winning a championship,” Paul said.
Paul also hinted that the market won’t matter. He hilariously stated that as long as there is outdoor or indoor golf, James will be just fine. If neither money nor market is a significant factor in the decision-making process, then the number of teams he could go to goes up by a fair bit. It will be fascinating to see where James ends up.
