LeBron James Rumors

Nine-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard agreed to a three-year, $42 million contract to return to the Portland Trail Blazers, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Lillard's deal includes a player option in 2027-28 and a no-trade clause. Lillard joins the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James as the only NBA players with a true no-trade clause in their contracts.

ESPN

While discussing his childhood hero, Kasparas Jakučionis’ eyes lit up and his smile widened. The Miami Heat rookie already appeared in a good mood when he discussed overcoming early shooting struggles in the California Classic with strong performances in Las Vegas Summer League. When he reflected on watching LeBron James growing up, it seems that Jakučionis will most look forward to when the Heat play the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2024-25 season. “When I was little, he was my hero,” Jakučionis told Sportskeeda about James. “He’s a complete basketball player. He does everything for the team to win. He’s a winning guy. He’s involving other players in the game. He can score whenever he wants. He defends. Basically, he is the true leader.”

SportsKeeda

Naomi Osaka and LeBron James have each reached the pinnacle of their respective sports. And now, the two will be partnering for an upcoming series on how athletes spend their time away from their respective sports, experiencing their home cities during their off days. Osaka’s Hana Kuma production company and James’ Uninterrupted will come together, along with UltraBoom Media, the company behind the Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown series, on the new project called Off Day that will be aired on the Uninterrupted YouTube channel.

Awful Announcing

"I think we have to start thinking that this could be his last year in the league," ESPN's Dave McMenamin said. "Rich Paul [James' agent] told me there was no extension talk, because they didn't ask for an extension. They didn't broach the subject. Now, you could say, why didn't the Lakers offer it? Sure, you could. But Paul's point to me was this wasn't a point of tension. "It's not something that they were pursuing. So I think you look at it as, yeah, there's a very limited time remaining in his career," McMenamin continued. "We kinda already knew that. We knew that, basically, since he reached 20 years in the league, he's gone into every offseason contemplating retirement."

BasketNews

Again, team and league sources said no discussions about a buyout have occurred between the Lakers and James, the option merely being a pathway discussed by rival teams as they survey the situation.

New York Times

Lev Akabas: Steph Curry was the highest-paid NBA player last season, including both salary and endorsement earnings, per @sportico.bsky.social . He made >$150 million 💰 Before Curry, the last player to earn more than LeBron in a season was Kobe Bryant in 2012-13

bsky.app

Bobby Marks: With Bradley Beal being waived, LeBron James is the only player in the NBA with a true no trade clause. Eligibility: 8 years in the NBA and 4 years with the current team A player is not allowed to add a NTC in an extension.

x.com

One team linked to James — the Dallas Mavericks — does not have interest in gutting its roster to match James’ salary in a trade, a team source told The Athletic. And if there were a potentially better trade out there for the Lakers — one that would create cap flexibility while also addressing some of the team’s other needs — James has a full no-trade clause in his contract and could veto any deal that would send him somewhere he doesn’t want to go.

New York Times

In the sections filled with employees from other teams, scouts and executives around the NBA buzzed with speculation about where else James might play, tossing around trade and buyout scenarios that, league and team sources told The Athletic, have never been discussed between James and the Lakers.

New York Times

Amid the constant speculation recently about his future, both the Lakers and people close to the NBA’s all-time leading scorer expect that he will be with the organization for training camp once the season begins this fall, league sources told The Athletic. Those same sources said the Lakers have received no indication from James or his representatives that he would request a trade or ask to be bought out of the final year of his contract, which will be his eighth season with the Lakers, the longest consecutive stretch spent with one organization in his career.

New York Times

LeBron James: I think the best feeling for me as a player is that— when the national anthem is going on, and I usually stand on the end— when I can look down the rope and I know that I got 11 other guys, 13 other guys that's in a foxhole with me... I know for sure that if there's a grenade thrown in that foxhole, we don't all run—we all stand there.

YouTube

LeBron James: When you talk about inspiration, there was nobody more inspiring to me than Michael Jordan. For me, I think our games would have complemented each other well. MJ was a flat-out scorer. He had a scorers mentality if I had to pick him. But I know I can't pick him because I know how social media works. You're gonna be like, "Oh, you want to play with Michael Jordan, too? You get to play with everybody else. God damn it." I didn't ask the question. I'm only answering it, guys. I didn't ask the question. But MJ was inspiration. Penny Hardaway was inspiration to me. Grant Hill was inspiration to me growing up. Like that point forward Scottie Pippen, that point forward. Guys like Penny, like Grant Hill, like Scottie, those guys kind of inspired me because I kind of wanted to be that point forward. I can see the headline already. LeBron wants to play with Michael Jordan. Like, I see it already. That's weird. Don't be weird. Don't be weird. Don't be weird. I was going to say Kobe Bryant, but I actually played with Kobe in the Olympics, so rest his soul. Great Kobe. Great Kobe.

YouTube

Rich Paul: “The way we’ve approached it, I just told LeBron, ‘Enjoy your summer.’ He’s been an unbelievable asset and example for the league since he’s arrived, an unbelievable ambassador is the word I was looking for since he arrived, and sometimes you just have to let the noise be the noise and we’re not focused on that. I don’t have any news. I don’t have anything to give. And in that conversation with Dave, that was just conversation, it wasn’t anything in terms of strategy or anything like that. It was just conversation. I mean, look, the guy’s 40 years old and playing like he’s 24.”

Twitter

Rich Paul: “I know how hard it is to get to the NBA. I know how hard it is to stay in the NBA. I know how hard it is to have consistency while being in the NBA. And, you know, it's easy for us to critique sitting behind these microphones. But the respect level for all the guys playing, and I know the respect level, obviously, for someone at LeBron's level and his tenure and all the things he's accomplished, again, you can't buy into those things. But people gotta do their job. And so we understand that and he understands that. But I think how you do things is what my focus is, and it's been class personified pretty much for the most part in any organization, and you have to remain that way.”

Twitter