With LeBron James eligible to sign a contract extension starting next week, there have been rumors for a while about his future with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Some have speculated that he will leave next summer when he becomes a free agent and that a reunion with the Cleveland Cavaliers could be in the cards.
But others, such as Brian Windhorst, have said that James probably won’t leave L.A., if for no other reason than the fact that he and his family love being in the Southland.
Another prominent NBA reporter, Marc Stein, is now saying something similar.
Via Marc Stein Substack:
“Sources briefed on the matter stress that James is extremely happy in Los Angeles despite the Lakers’ back-to-back rocky seasons. He and his family, by all accounts, have grown increasingly entrenched in Southern California since James signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2018.”
When James first came to the Lakers, some felt he only did so because of his off-the-court interests, which have been much easier for him to pursue in L.A., and that he doesn’t care about winning championships anymore.
However, he has also been accused of strong-arming Lakers management into making certain personnel decisions, including the much-criticized Russell Westbrook trade last summer.
This summer, he has reportedly been pushing the front office to do whatever it takes to get Kyrie Irving, his former teammate with whom he won a world title on the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.