JAMES AGREES TO JOIN LAKERS
LeBron James Decision 3.0 is over. James has agreed to a four-year, $154 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to a statement released by his agency, Klutch Sports Group.
He has a player option for the fourth year, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY.
The person requested anonymity because specific terms weren’t disclosed in the release.
And with that, the NBA’s landscape is forever changed by the game’s greatest player yet again.
James, the 33-year-old, Akron, Ohio, native leaves Cleveland for the second time in his 15 seasons, having gone from the Cavaliers to the Miami Heat in 2010 before returning in 2014.
Even with all James has accomplished — the three titles, four MVP awards, three Finals MVPs, 13 All-Star appearances and two Olympic gold medals — this is a bold move for James. As it stands, the Lakers are a team that went 35-47 last season under coach Luke Walton.
The next question, of course, is whether the Lakers can find a way to add the San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi
Leonard to the mix.
The Spurs star is on the trading block after a tumultuous and injury-riddled season in San Antonio, and it is known that he prefers to land with the Lakers.
The Philadelphia 76ers, however, have also been in pursuit of the twotime Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2014, James said in “Sports Illustrated” in his I’m Coming Home essay, “I always believed that I’d return to Cleveland and finish my career there. I just didn’t know when,” and he said at the beginning of the 2017-18 season that nothing had happened to change his mind that Cleveland was the place he wanted to finish his career.
Yet circumstances change, and it was no sure thing James would remain with the Cavaliers.