The Cleveland Cavaliers are hosting the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. And the Cavs would welcome LeBron James back this summer, too, if he wanted to join the team for his 24th NBA season,according to an ESPN report that came out hours before tip-off.
Playingin his league-record 23rd season, James is in a contract year with the Lakers. Now 41, Jamespicked up his $52.6 million player optionlast June, but thennews broke that L.A. didn't offer the four-time league MVP and four-time NBA champion an extension. Also, James was reportedly not given a heads-up about thesale of the Lakers from the Buss family to Mark Walter, whereas new franchise centerpiece Luka Dončić was reportedly clued in about the transaction.
In September, though, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka doubled downon his Aug. 2 comments,reaffirming that he'd "love if LeBron's story would be to retire as a Laker."
Jamesmissed the first 14 games of the season due to sciatica, a pain that travels along the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back through the glute and down the leg.
He returned to the courton Nov. 19and has played in 28 games so far. James has started in every game he has played this season, and he's averaging 22.4 points — his fewest since his rookie season with the Cavaliers in 2003-04 — along with 6.7 assists and 6 rebounds in 33.4 minutes per outing.
James finished eighth in All-Star voting earlier this month. As a result,he won't be a starter in the midseason exhibitionfor the first time in 22 years. A 21-time All-Star, he could still be picked as a reserve for the All-Star Game, butthat will be up to NBA head coaches to decide.
A bit more than midway through the regular season, James' eighth with the Lakers, L.A. is 28-17 and fifth in the Western Conference.
James is amid the longest uninterrupted stay with a team of his NBA career. But his contract is set to expire at the end of this season, and the 26-year-old Dončić has become the focal point for a franchise that James helped return to the mountain top with an NBA championship after the 2019-20 season.
If James doesn't retire and decides to take his talents back to Cleveland for the 2026-27 season, he'd be embarking on his third stint with the Cavaliers, who famously selected the Akron, Ohio, native out of St. Vincent–St. Mary High School with the No. 1 pick in the 2003 draft.
James played for the Cavs from 2003 to '10 and then, after winning two NBA titles with the Miami Heat as part of their "Big 3," again from 2014 to '18. In his second stint, he delivered Cleveland its first NBA championship in historic fashion, guiding the Cavaliers back from a 3-1 Finals deficit against a record-setting, 73-win Golden State Warriors team.
He signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2018. And for now, he is reportedly committed to the Lakers.
James stopped drinking alcohol during his rehab from sciatica and has dropped weight in an attempt to alleviate back and joint pressure and stay fresh alongside his younger teammates,as reported by ESPN on Wednesday.
