Following the Los Angeles Lakers‘ early elimination in the 2024 NBA playoffs, the question everyone makes is whether LeBron James will stay with the team. But no one is sure what the King will ultimately decide, including Anthony Davis.
Speaking to the media after the loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5, AD made it clear he’ll do whatever he can to try and keep LeBron with the purple and gold. Of course, Davis understands it will be up to James, but he believes there’s still a strong chance of succeeding in LA.
“If he asks my opinion or whenever we talk about it, I’m obviously going to try and recruit him back,” Davis said about James, via Give Me Sport. “Ultimately, he’s old enough where he’s going to make a decision, whatever is best for him and his family. Knowing that his time is limited in this league… His goal is obviously to win and I feel like we can do that here.“
Davis joined the Lakers a year after James, with the franchise giving up Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and three first-round picks to acquire the “The Brow” from the New Orleans Pelicans.
The moved immediately paid off as Los Angeles emerged victorious in the 2020 Orlando bubble, but has been unable to succeed since then. Now, many wonder whether James will give up and chase another ring elsewhere.
LeBron’s options in 2024 and his history with free agency
LeBron has until June 29 to decide whether he wants to pick up a $51.4 million player option for next season. In the event James opts out, he’ll hit the open market at 40 years of age.
It remains unclear whether that’s what he ultimately wants, but The King already knows what is like to test the free agency. In 2010, LeBron teamed up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh at the Miami Heat in what went down as “The Decision.”
Four years later, he opted out of his player option in South Florida to go back to the Cleveland Cavaliers, aiming to deliver a coveted first championship for the franchise. With that mission fulfilled in 2016, he once again looked at his options in 2018 free agency. That year, he made the blockbuster move to the Lakers.
