Report: LeBron James Wants Insane Contract for His Age-40 Season
LeBron James has four NBA championships and is the league's all-time leading scorer. His estimated earnings over his 20+ seasons stands at $479,466,457. That's nearly half a billion dollars. But there's apparently more where that came from, if LeBron had his druthers. A lot more. ESPN's Brian Windhorst explains that King James wants to sign another contract surpassing at least $100 million in total.
I don’t think this is LeBron’s last stand, I don’t think this is the Lakers’ last stand. First off, I think LeBron is angling to sign a multiyear deal in the offseason with the Lakers that will be nine figures. That will be even bigger than the deal he is on now. Now, whether or not he’s able to finish that deal, whether or not the Lakers want to give him a three-year contract and pay him $60 million when he’s 42 years old, that’s a different discussion.
LeBron has an opt-out after this season, and the 20-time All-Star’s player option is for over $51 million. It stands to reason, if he's looking at money in that range or higher, his next deal would be at least for two years based on the $100M+ suggestion from Windhorst, though the insider alludes to a potential three-year deal.
Certainly, LeBron has not slowed down a whole heckuva lot in this, his 21st season. He's averaging 25.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 7.9 assists through 51 games. In his 6th year with the Lakers, he's thus far brought one NBA title to Los Angeles, and the inaugural In-Season Tournament championship, the NBA Cup, earlier this season.
The one intriguing plot line that still needs to be addressed in all this is what happens with his son, Bronny. He's eligible for the NBA Draft in June, and LeBron has said he wants to play with his son before he retires. Bronny's stock has dipped recently, and in some quarters, isn't expected to be a first-round selection. There's also the possibility that he decides to stay at USC for one more year, thus justifying LeBron's desire for a multi-year contract this offseason.
Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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