The entire sports world has been consumed by the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade for the past few days, and much of the discussion has centered around LeBron James: Did he know ahead of time? What did he think of the deal? How will it affect his present and future?
Late on Tuesday night, after James put up 26 points, eight rebounds and nine assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to yet another impressive win, this one a 122-97 destruction of the Los Angeles Clippers, we finally got to hear from the man himself.
Like everyone else, James didn’t believe the story was true at first.
“Saturday night, well, my emotions were all over the place, obviously,” James said. “We had just come off a big win, huge win in [Madison Square] Garden. I was out — you guys have seen the reports — I was out with my family to dinner and got the news and the first time I heard it I thought it was for sure fake. I thought it was a hoax, people messing around, whatever.
“But then when AD called me, AD FaceTimed me, and I talked to him for quite a while. Even when I got off the phone with him it still didn’t seem real. It didn’t seem real until I saw Luka today and I saw a clip of AD at the Dallas shootaround. That’s when it finally hit me, like, oh shit, this is real.”
One of the most notable big picture aspects of the deal is that in trading Davis for Doncic, the Lakers have reset their timeline. Instead of trying to squeeze as much as possible out of the last few years of the James-Davis pairing, they now have a new long-term superstar in place.
“It’s a gift,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said about acquiring Doncic during the Slovenian’s introductory press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re talking about a 25-year-old that is a top-three player in the universe. I can’t think of a more amazing starting point to build a roster for the next decade.”
That will, and should, impact their roster-building decisions, both at the deadline and in the summer. On Tuesday, James was asked if he had any concerns about the Lakers moving in a different direction.
“What’s wrong with that?” James said. “If I had any concerns I would have waived my no-trade clause and got up out of here.”
Certainly, it appears James is going to be on the Lakers after the deadline passes on Thursday. But what about beyond this season? He has a player option for 2025-26, which he can decline to become an unrestricted free agent, and retirement will always be a topic.
James would not commit to spending the rest of his career, however long it lasts, with the Lakers when asked directly on Tuesday.
“I’m here right now, I’m committed to the Lakers organization,” James said. “I’m here to help Luka and Maxi make the transition as smooth as possible. [Markieff Morris] has been here before, so he already knows what we’re about, we won a championship with him in 2020, so I ain’t worried about him. As a leader of the team, as one of the captains of the team, it’s my job to make it as seamless as possible.”
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