With the Los Angeles Lakers still out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference, rumors of LeBron James wanting out of the franchise at some point in the future have come up. Some teams have reportedly even started preparing for the possibility that the 38-year-old will force a trade in the coming offseason.
However, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN, the rumblings he has heard are that the superstar prefers to stay with the Lakers and finish his career there.
“I keep hearing he wants to stay with the Lakers,” Lowe said. “He wants to finish his career with the Lakers. His comments though should be interpreted as his patience is not infinite and if this is just a continued morass of losing, maybe that changes. But if you force me to bet, I’d still bet on him finishing his career with the Lakers. And I’d feel pretty confident in that.”
Only time will tell if James indeed sticks with it in Los Angeles. But, what’s clear is that some changes might have to be made for the team to have a chance at contending for a title and maximizing his championship window. The four-time MVP seemed to recently send a direct message to the front office, implying that a roster improvement is necessary in order to turn things around this season.
The Lakers had a disappointing start to the 2022-23 campaign, falling into 0-5 and 2-10 holes. To make matters worse, chemistry issues appeared to hound the organization.
Fortunately, strings of consecutive wins have helped L.A. climb back up in the standings. It is currently 19-22 and sitting in 12th place in the West, which is certainly much better than when the squad was at the bottom of the conference.
The team will have a great opportunity to get back to .500, as its next five contests will be played at home. Although most of the opponents during the home stand are playoff contenders, including the Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento Kings and Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles’ 10-8 record at home should provide the team and its fans with some optimism that it can come away with wins during that stretch.
But, what if the Lakers can’t make a comeback this season and miss out on the playoffs again? For Lowe, he seems confident that James will still be representing the Purple and Gold beyond this season.
That is certainly good news because as long as the franchise has the four-time champion on the roster, it has a chance to contend for a playoff spot. After all, he is still producing at an elite rate. This season, he is averaging 29.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game.
