5 hours ago 4

LeBron James' Relationship With Lakers Receives Update After Offseason Decision

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James has dominated headlines this NBA offseason. After James exercised his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, his agent Rich Paul released a statement to ESPN that immediately ignited trade rumors.

While James has not demanded a trade, nor have the Lakers expressed any desire to move him, Paul's statement seemingly left that door open.

"LeBron wants to compete for a championship," Paul told ESPN. "He knows the Lakers are building for the future. ... We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what's best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career."

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23)

Not long after this statement, James made a trip to his hometown. An Akron native, James has spent 11 of his 22 NBA seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In addition to golfing in the Northeast Ohio area, James made a trip to his old practice facility in Cleveland for an offseason workout.

While James clarified on X this is something he does every offseason, his decision to document all of this on social media is one ESPN's Brian Windhorst said is part of a "passive aggressive" relationship between the Lakers and their star forward.

Appearing on ESPN Cleveland, Windhorst said, "By doing what he is doing, he is absolutely poking the bear and being passive aggressive. And by the way, the Lakers are being passive aggressive back at LeBron."

Windhorst specifically pointed out the Lakers have not announced James' decision to opt-in. The team has announced others transactions, like the re-signing of Jaxson Hayes and signings of Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia. However, James' contract decision was not announced.