LeBron James Feels Lakers ‘Are More In A Futuristic Mindset’

LeBron James feels that the Los Angeles Lakers “are more in a futuristic mindset,” according to NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN. 

“He feels clearly that the Lakers are more in a futuristic mindset,” Charania said on Sirius XM NBA Radio. “Where does that go? If one side feels like, listen, I wanna compete for a championship, the other side is just trying to compete for the future, but then that other side is like, well, we are trying to win a championship, like, where does that meet in the roads that we see?

“And I think that situation will play out over the next two months. I really think there will be some hard conversations eventually that will need to happen there.”

The Lakers are building around Luka Doncic now. Doncic is only 26 years old and has several years left of being an elite player. 

Meanwhile, James is 40 years old. He’s the oldest active player in the NBA and wants to compete for a championship next season. 

The Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 playoffs in five games. They lost Dorian Finney-Smith to the Houston Rockets in free agency after lowballing the forward in contract talks. 

After losing Finney-Smith, Los Angeles signed Jake LaRavia and Deandre Ayton. Doncic and Ayton share the same agent, Bill Duffy. 

The leading scorer in NBA history, James has a no-trade clause in his contract. He has been with the Lakers since 2018. 

Los Angeles missed the postseason in 2019, won the championship in 2020, lost in the first round of the 2021 postseason, missed the postseason in 2022, lost in the conference finals in 2023 and lost in the first round of the 2024 and 2025 playoffs. 

James is still a dominant offensive force. He made the All-NBA Second Team last season. The four-time MVP and four-time Finals MVP averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks while shooting 51.3% from the field, 37.6% from 3 and 78.2% from the foul line. 

If James is unhappy in Los Angeles, he can request a trade and pick his next team since he has a no-trade clause.