Chris Mannix: There’s Only One Decision for LeBron James

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James says he isn’t sure what his future holds. 

“I don’t know, honestly,” James said.  

The Los Angeles Lakers say they want to give him space. 

“The first order of business there is allowing him to spend the time he needs to decide what his next steps are,” said president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka. 

The Lakers’ offseason isn’t a week old, and the James speculation is already flying. That he has beef with Luka Dončić (yeah, no). That he will sign somewhere for the league minimum (absolutely not). On Wednesday, ESPN published a deeply reported piece that detailed some of the frustrations James has with the franchise (memo to Pelinka: watch what you do with that game ball). 

It’s messy, but with James, it often is. There were charred remains of burnt jerseys when he left Cleveland for Miami in 2010. There were stunned members of the Heat front office when he went back to the Cavs in ’14. His second exit from Cleveland in ’18 was cleaner—a championship helps with that—but there was some surprise when James took his talent to Manhattan Beach. 

How about we make this simple:

The Lakers need LeBron James. 

And LeBron James needs the Lakers. 

L.A.’s season ended ugly on Monday, getting swept at home by Oklahoma City. Pinning any of that on James, though, is like blaming an Olympic relay anchor for failing to win gold when two of his leg runners are down. The Lakers played the entire postseason without Dončić. They got six games from a rusty Austin Reaves. Against the defending champs, the most reliable secondary options were Deandre Ayton and Luke Kennard. 

Want evidence the Lakers need James? Let’s go back in time, to March, to the 16–2 stretch that had everyone wondering if Los Angeles was poised to make a run. The Lakers had the NBA’s fourth-ranked offense during that period. Defensively, they were ninth. James, finally bear-hugging his role as a third option, averaged 18.7 points, 6.9 assists and 7.1 rebounds and connected on 56% of his shots, including 38.5% from three. 

Is that the kind of player you walk away from? 

Let’s not forget it was James who pushed L.A. in the second round. He averaged 23.2 points, 8.3 assists and 7.2 rebounds against Houston. His heroics in Game 3 of that series—when he picked Reed Sheppard’s pocket and knocked in a game-tying three in the waning seconds of regulation—was the stuff you regularly witnessed from James decades earlier. 

“Of course, any team, including ours, would love to have LeBron James on their roster,” Pelinka said. “That’s a blessing in itself just with what he does.”

For James, this offseason has a different feel. He’s a star, but not a superstar. He’s wanted, but the days of teams moving heaven, earth and bad contracts to get him are gone. He’s an eight-figure per season player, but he’s signed his last max deal. He will have options, but they may not be the ones he wants. 

Cleveland? There’s certainly something storybook about completing his career with the Cavaliers. But Cleveland is a second-apron team with limited financial flexibility. And the Cavs will have other offseason priorities, like getting Donovan Mitchell’s name on an extension and figuring out what to do with James Harden. 

Golden State? The idea of playing with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green has to be a little appealing. But the Warriors are similarly restricted financially. Ten years ago, a team with a James/Curry/Green core would be championship front-runners. In 2026, it may not be enough to get out of the first round. 

Miami? Can’t see any appetite for a reunion with a Heat team spinning its wheels in the Eastern Conference. The Clippers? Tyronn Lue is there but that’s a team headed in a different direction. The Knicks? This run New York is on makes a long-discussed link up there unlikely. 

For James, a return to the Lakers just makes sense. His family is in Los Angeles—his son Bronny is on the freaking roster—and where James has built an off-the-court business empire. He’s not beloved by Lakers fans—the Kobe Bryant comparisons will never stop—but he has plenty of supporters. He wasn’t enthusiastic about the third-fiddle role, but by the end of the season, he was thriving in it. 

Consider: L.A. went 18–5 to close out the season, just behind Oklahoma City and San Antonio during that stretch. They had the best field goal percentage in the NBA and held opponents to 32.3% from three-point range.  

Said Lakers coach JJ Redick, “We want that core to be back together.”

For James, negotiations with the Lakers could be humbling. He’s not L.A.’s only priority. The Lakers have to re-sign Reaves and continue the process of building out a Dončić-friendly team. That means targeting defensive-minded wings and springy, rim-running centers. Financially, James is going to have to accept taking a steep pay cut from the $52.6 million he earned this season. 

“I’ll take time to recalibrate and look over the season and see what’s best for my future,” James said. “And when I get to that point, everyone will know.”

It’s not about loving the game, James said this week. He still has that. It’s about loving the process. About what it takes to get his 41-year-old body physically able to compete at a high level. Internally, the Lakers rave about James’s preparation. His leadership. The hours he keeps, the effort he puts in. “If I fell out of love with the process,” said James, “then I probably fell out of love with the game.”

The Dončić era has begun in Los Angeles, and make no mistake: There will be pressure to win. Dončić, 27, is in his athletic prime, and before his season-ending hamstring injury was playing at an MVP-level. Finding players who can help him win is paramount for the Lakers. And there are few better winners than LeBron. 

The Lakers should want LeBron James. 

LeBron James should want a return to the Lakers. 

This partnership is nearing an end. But it’s not over yet. 

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