LeBron James is the greatest player of his generation, but boy, does he love him some drama. It seems not a year can go by without King James stirring the pot in some way. He did it again recently by opting in to the final year of his contract with the LA Lakers but having his agent Rich Paul put out a cryptic statement that made it unclear exactly how committed he is to the Purple and Gold.
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LeBron has done this throughout his 22+ years in the league, pulling the strings in obvious and not-so-obvious ways in order to get what he wants. In this case, it appears he’s trying to goad the Lakers into pushing all their chips into the middle in an attempt to make a title run this year.
For James, it makes sense because he’s 40 years old and may not have long left to chase a fifth ring. There’s only one problem with that thinking, and it’s an issue that LeBron has never faced before. Since the Lakers traded Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic in February, LeBron is no longer the top dog on his own team.
Byron Scott had Olden Polynice on his podcast today, and, along with cohost Kid Jay, the three of them discussed just how long LeBron has left as a member of the Lakers. Scott believed that LeBron would play out this year, then come back on a team-friendly deal next year, possibly at the veteran’s minimum.
Most people around the NBA seem to share Scott’s view, if not about LeBron’s future salary, then at least about how he’ll probably play for only one or two more years. Polynice disagreed vehemently. “The 2028 Olympics are in Los Angeles,” he said. “I guarantee you, I guarantee that man’s on the roster.”
Polynice pointed out that LeBron is in better shape than more than half the league, even at his age, and his game has barely shown any sign of decline. “Udonis Haslem spent 10 years on that bench. So you don’t think LeBron’s gonna spend five at least just sitting there, mentoring?” asked Olden.
Scott shot back that, unlike the role-player Haslem, The Chosen One isn’t going to be interested in an elder statesman role. “If he can’t be LeBron James, where he is either your best or your second-best player, I don’t see him coming off the bench.”
Scott acknowledged that LeBron has ceded the driver’s seat to Luka, but he’s still easily the second-best player on the Lakers, even with the Slovenian superstar on board.
“He basically said publicly that this is Luka’s team,” Scott informed his cohosts, “so that means he’s taking a back seat. I do not see him in three, four, [or] five years saying, ‘Yeah, I can come off the bench.’ I just don’t see that being his mentality.”
Polynice cracked Scott and Jay up when he retorted, “The man could literally go to 50!” That calls to mind the infamous tweet from a decade ago that read, “LeBron is 30, this f****** won’t go on for much longer, thank god.”
LeBron might have presciently given credence to Polynice’s bold claim when he told Jason and Travis Kelce, “[The person who tweeted that is] gonna be real upset when I turn 50,” on the New Heights podcast back in March.
LeBron scored 24.4 points per game and finished sixth in the MVP voting this past year, so he clearly still has what it takes to play a while longer. Is he going to make it to 50? That sounds like a tall order, but if anyone could do it, LeBron can.
