The 2025-26 NBA season saw something that hadn’t been seen in the league for more than two decades. On opening night, there was no LeBron James in the lineup as his team got ready for a match. Instead, nursing a right sciatica, he’s remained on the sidelines for the first two games of the year and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
But a muted response on the bench from James did lead to some instant speculation.
Sporting a quieter and more reserved stance than ever before, it opened up a can of worms that had been brewing since the offseason. A potential move sending the four-time MVP to his fourth team has been openly discussed, and now a legend of the game believes he knows the perfect destination where the 40-year-old could maximize his talents in a bid to capture his fifth NBA Championship.
LeBron James Could Move for a 5th Ring
So far, any news about James moving on from the Lakers hasn’t been made public. But speculation continues to run rampant, especially with the organization finding its superstar of the next decade in Luka Dončić.
The roster, on paper at least, doesn’t appear to be of the same caliber as some others in a brutal Western Conference. After being knocked out in the first round of the NBA playoffs last season, their offseason additions weren’t a significant upgrade.
As a result, with time running out for the legendary baller to add a fifth ring to his collection, former New York Knicks point guard and two-time All-Star Stephon Marbury had a bold idea of where he could go next to potentially find a path to that championship.
Speaking to ScoopB, he believed the adjustment that came with adding a player of his magnitude wasn’t an easy one for just about any organization. Even though he believed most teams would welcome the idea, one team would make the most sense.
That team is the Dallas Mavericks. With a plethora of other stars like Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, not to mention the first overall pick from this year’s draft, Cooper Flagg, on the roster, the burden wouldn’t all fall on James.
As a result, Marbury placed them in lofty company, stating, “I mean, you put him on that team, they’re contenders. For him, he needs to be with a group of guys like that in order to be able to sustain and not have to do so much at that age.”
From that standpoint, he believed, “Dallas is a team that he will be more suited for where he doesn’t have to take on that much of the load.” With an elite defense virtually guaranteed with Flagg and Davis in the front court and the offense having legitimate options, James could work as the brainchild of the entire operation.
Even in a loaded Western Conference, that amount of star power would be hard to contend with, even if the salary situation would make it hard to bring him into the fold.
