NBA: LeBron James won’t ask to leave Lakers, says agent
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Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) scores in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
LeBron James will not seek a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers his agent has said, after speculation over the 39-year-old superstar’s future.
“LeBron won’t be traded, and we aren’t asking to be,” the player’s agent Rich Paul told ESPN on Friday.
James, the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, signed a two-year contract extension with the Lakers in August 2022 that would keep him at the club through the 2024-2025 season, if he takes up a player option for the final year of that deal.
The Lakers are 25-25 this season and in ninth place in the Western Conference.
James, 39 and in his 21st NBA campaign, is averaging 24.9 points, 7.7 assists and 7.5 rebounds in 44 games this season.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James gestures after scoring during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
He helped the Lakers claim the inaugural NBA Cup in-season tournament crown, but they have struggled to find consistency amid a stream of injuries.
James won a pair of NBA titles with Miami in 2012 and 2013 before returning to Cleveland where he clinched a championship in 2016.
His fourth NBA title came in 2020 with the Lakers and last year he led the team to the Western Conference finals where they lost 4-0 to eventual NBA champions the Denver Nuggets.
After that defeat, amid speculation that he might retire, James said that he was not ready to step back from the sport yet.
His eldest son Bronny James, who is playing college basketball for the University of Southern California, could conceivably enter the NBA in time for the 2024-2025 campaign.
