Admittedly, this summer was an odd one for LeBron James as his future with the Los Angeles Lakers came into question. After picking up his player option, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul revealed that he and James were evaluating roster moves L.A. made before deciding if he would ask out.
With all the moves the Lakers made this offseason though, it became evident that general manager Rob Pelinka is transitioning to building around Luka Doncic and not LeBron. For the first time in James’ career, he is not the focal point of his team and is playing on an expiring contract.
As Media Day and training camp kicks off next week, those storylines will be prevalent and how the 23-year veteran will respond to those pressing questions will be interesting. However, head coach JJ Redick kept in touch with his star and James appears to be in good spirits heading into this upcoming season.
“I talked to LeBron fairly frequently,” Redick said at his recent press conference. “Had two great in-person meetings with him. One, he finally made it out to the Hamptons. So he and I had dinner in Sag Harbor right around free agency. And then was able to spend some time with him here in L.A, a couple weeks ago. Came away from that thinking that he’s in a great spot mentally and know he’s going to give us his absolute best.”
Obviously, James is the gold standard when it comes to being a professional, so he is presumably ready to put those narratives to the side and play basketball. Frankly, his experience would mean a lot to Doncic, molding him into a leader and a hopeful multi-time champion.
As the season progresses, more rumors may swirl and Redick needs to keep his locker room together. Thankfully, the sophomore coach is a good communicator and used those skills to make sure James is in good spirits.
Ultimately, the Lakers have a dynamic Big 3 with James, Doncic and Austin Reaves and they showed flashes of being a great offensive tandem last season. Hopefully with a training camp and preseason together, the Akron native can see the championship potential L.A. has with the Slovenian star at the helm.
Rob Pelinka reiterates Lakers would ‘love’ if LeBron James retired with franchise
Rob Pelinka has to handle an extremely delicate situation with Luka Doncic being the next face of the franchise and LeBron James still on the roster.
Amid all the contract controversy, the Lakers opted to not add another year to James’ contract although to Pelinka, it does not change the fact the organization would ‘love’ if the four-time champion retired with them.
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