With NBA free agency underway, as of Wednesday, we are back in a territory in which we’ve not been for a while — LeBron James is, once again, a free agent. At no point during his eight-season stint in Los Angeles did LeBron James hit the open market, but after announcing on Tuesday that he will not be returning to the Lakers next season, James is now back on the market, and by all accounts, ready to mingle!
James has previously hit free agency three times in his career. In 2010, he infamously announced his decision to “take his talents to South Beach” in a made for TV special that launched Cleveland into an inferno of burning “JAMES 23” Cavs jerseys. Ironically, four years later, it was James returning to Cleveland in the ultimate “kiss and make up” scenario. Finally, in 2018, he left Cleveland for Hollywood. So, now, here we are.
It’s hard to believe James actually stayed in one place for eight seasons at this stage of his career, when it’s very tempting for older players to hop around and ring chase, but his run in Los Angeles was the longest stop, in terms of consecutive seasons in one place, in his career.
Now, James get to go through the recruiting phase all over again, and make no mistake — even in his early 40s, he will be the belle of the free agency ball. James isn’t what he once was, but he still averages over 20 points a night. Additionally, he reportedly isn’t hellbent on breaking the bank. Multiple outlets have indicated it’s more about winning and happiness than money for James at this stage.
That said, I’ve got four thoughts on James’ time in Los Angeles and where it all goes from here:
LeBron James’ body of work in Los Angeles did not live up to the hype
If it was almost any other player, James’ body of work in Los Angeles would be considered a rousing success. James himself made the All Star team every year, was All-NBA in seven of the eight seasons, and was the Finals MVP for a title in 2020, which was won in the COVID bubble in Orlando. However, when the Lakers weren’t winning that one title, they were largely an also ran in James’ eight seasons, including three seasons in which they were ousted in the first round and two in which they missed the playoffs altogether. On top of that, there was James manipulating his under-qualified son, Bronny, onto the Lakers roster with a second round pick a couple seasons ago, which was one of the more offensive nepotism plays in league history.
So where does James stack up among all time Laker greats?
Let’s face it, barring James winning six titles, it was going to be impossible for him to leap frog Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson as the best Laker of all time, and even then, the fact that Bryant and Johnson played every NBA game of their careers in a Lakers uniform may have made the number of rings moot in the first place. Obviously then, he is behind both Bryant and Johnson. In addition, based on conversations I’ve had with Laker fan friends of mine, James also slots behind Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, James Worthy, Pau Gasol, and Wilt Chamberlain. In other words, James barely cracks the top ten of all time Lakers, which probably says more about the star-laden history of the team than it does about James’ body of work.
Who is the favorite to land LeBron’s services?
Okay, now that we’ve got the loooking back out fo the way, where do things go from here for James? The rumor early in the week had James taking his talents to the Bay Area to gang up with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Anthony Davis (who is currently a Washington Wizard) on the Golden State Warriors. This was such a strong rumor that on Tuesday night, the Warriors were a heavy -1000 favorite to sign James. That shifted on Wednesday morning when, all of a sudden, the Cavaliers leapfrogged Golden State and became a -150 favorite to reunite with James, who is from Akron. Other teams on the fringe include Boston, San Antonio, and a possible trip back down to South Beach to play for the Miami Heat.
Are the Rockets placing a phone call to Rich Paul, LeBron’s agent?
Well, if you’re a general manager worth your salt, you place phone calls to everybody all the time, just to see what’s out there, so if Rafael Stone isn’t calling Rich Paul, James’ agent, then he’s not doing his job. That said, the Rockets currently sit at a microscopic +5000 odds to land James, alongside also-ran teams like Indiana and Washington. In other words, there is practically a zero percent chance of James landing here. However, as James and Durant are widely considered the top two individual players of this era (with Steph Curry certainly in the argument), seeing them team up as the final stop for both in their illustrious careers would be fascinating. It’s not gonna happen in real life, so maybe I’ll simulate it on PlayStation.
