All Of LeBron James’ Actions Strongly Point Toward Him Wanting To Remain With Lakers

December 12, 2024

We probably knew this day was coming. You know, the day when we’d talk about LeBron James being traded from the Lakers to join Stephen Curry and the Warriors.

Well, that day has arrived. The rumors are back. There likely isn’t much to them — though no less than James himself admitted that the Warriors tried to trade for him last February.

Then James and Curry played together on the gold-medal-winning U.S. squad at the Paris Olympics over the summer. With the Lakers struggling, here we are again.

“It was inevitable that that conversation was going to come up if the Lakers didn’t get off to a flying start,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on First Take. “It’s something that has been whispered about in the league for weeks — is this gonna happen?”

But as Windhorst added, LeBron-to-the-Warriors wouldn’t be up to the Lakers. Or the Warriors.

“Here’s the thing you need to understand — there are two no-trade clauses in the NBA,” he said. “One is (Suns guard) Bradley Beal. And one is LeBron James. That means no matter what the Lakers think, no matter what the Warriors think, no matter what Team X thinks, the only person in control of LeBron James trade is truly and contractually LeBron James.”

So say it together now: LeBron can’t get traded unless LeBron says so.

“If LeBron James wants to change his situation, he alone controls the situation,” Windhorst said. “He alone goes to the Lakers and not only says where he wants to go, but who he’d want to go for. Because when you have a no-trade clause, you control all sides of a trade.

“… And I will just say, when LeBron could’ve gone to the Warriors last February, the answer was no. LeBron could’ve gone to a number of places, including the Warriors, this last summer. When he signed that contract, he knew exactly what the Lakers’ roster was. He waited, he offered to take less money, he watched them go through free agency.”

The Lakers did … well, next to nothing.

“And he re-signed, and he put a no-trade clause in there,” Windhorst said. “So, I think if LeBron started this process and said, ‘I would like to be a Golden State Warrior,’ I think there’s a good chance it gets done.

“But LeBron has not done that. All of LeBron’s actions have been he wants to be a Laker. He has done it repeatedly, he has done it clearly, he has done it without wavering. So I until I hear something differently, and I have not, then I think LeBron is all about maximizing where he is right now.”