LeBron James is currently in the midst of one of the more remarkable postseason performances of his career, carrying the Los Angeles Lakers to a 2-0 lead over the Houston Rockets in the first round without Luka Dončić or Austin Reaves. But while he is busy trying to win a playoff series on his own, the question of what happens to him this summer remains.
The latest Hall of Famer to weigh in is Gary Payton, and unlike the analysts who have been predicting a departure, he thinks King James is staying put in Los Angeles
Gary Payton Predicts LeBron James Will Stay With Lakers
“I think he’s going to do one more year,” Payton said in a one-on-one interview with R.org. “I think LeBron, because I know about his ego, he has to really feel that he can’t play in this league anymore. I don’t think he feels that way. I think he feels he can still dominate.
“But what the things that he does with his body is a lot different because what he does with his body is he takes care of it. Once he starts feeling it, I don’t think he’s going to let himself go down. I don’t think he’ll let himself be looking like a fool or anything.
The comment about James’ ego is worth sitting with for a second, because Payton does not mean it as an insult. He’s saying that James won’t walk away if he knows he can still play at a high level, and if this postseason has proven anything, it’s that James can still dominate and put a team on his back.
The numbers back that up. In Game 1 against the Rockets on April 18, James put up 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 13 assists in a Lakers’ win, carrying a shorthanded team that had no business winning the game on paper. Through two games, the 41-year-old has averaged 23.5 points, 10.0 assists, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 3s on 48.6% shooting from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range, which is absurd by any measure.
As for where he will play next year, Payton predicts that James will want to stay in Los Angeles rather than move his family and start a new chapter elsewhere.
“I think he’s got about one or two more years left in his body. I don’t think he wants to move anywhere,” Payton said. “People talking about where he’s going to end up. That’s not what LeBron is about right now. I think it’s about comfortability, about how his daughter, which is the only one still left in the house, and how his wife wants to be.
“I don’t think they want to be in the cold. I think they think they’re very comfortable in Los Angeles and that’s where they’re going to be. I think he’s going to stay here and try to work something out with the Lakers.”
The financial picture also complicates his free-agency decision. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has argued that no team has the cap space to make a real run at him, meaning any move would require either a significant pay cut from what he is earning in Los Angeles.
For now, Payton’s read is the simplest one: James still believes he can dominate, and until he stops believing that, he will keep showing up. And rather than relocating and starting fresh in a new city, it’s simpler for him and his family to stay in Los Angeles and finish his career in purple and gold.
