LeBron James is confident he can win one more title with the Los Angeles Lakers before retiring from the NBA.
“Absolutely,” James told ESPN's Dave McMenamin when asked if he thought he could win another championship with the Lakers.
When McMenamin asked him the basis for his confidence, James replied, “Because I've done it before.”
The Lakers emerged victorious from the NBA bubble in 2020, with James and Anthony Davis leading the team to its first championship in a decade.
Los Angeles has not been able to repeat that success since. The Lakers reached the Western Conference finals in 2023 but were swept by the eventual champion Denver Nuggets, then lost to the Nuggets in five games in the first round of last season's playoffs.
But James believes he and Davis make LA into championship contenders.
“We still have two guys that are dedicated every day, myself and the AD, and we're dedicated to excellence,” James said.
James continued, “We're not that far away. We were one year away from the Western Conference Finals. Last year didn't go as well as we would have liked, but we're not that far away.”
“There are so many teams in the league, so many great teams in the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference, but I don't think we're that far behind the others.”
McMenamin previously reported that after James declined his $51.4 million player option to return to the Lakers for the 2024-25 season, James' representatives said he would consider taking a salary cut to allow the franchise to use the full mid-level exception if the team could acquire an “impact player.”
Potential candidates for this impact player include James Harden, Klay Thompson and Jonas Valanciunas, McMenamin reported.
With all three players moving on to other teams, James instead signed with the Lakers for a two-year contract worth $101.35 million, about $3 million less than the $104 million max for that period.
While the amount would not qualify the Lakers for their $12.8 million mid-level exception, it would keep the team just below the restricted second salary apron (courtesy of ESPN's Bobby Marks) and allow them to avoid the more stringent free agent and trade restrictions. James may be hoping the amount gives Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office enough flexibility to build another championship-contending team in his seventh year with the team.
