James never took the initiative to cut his salary and renew his contract in his career!

On May 29, the famous American sports media ESPN objectively analyzed: Regarding the core NBA Lakers star James will most likely choose to execute the $52.6 million player option contract for next season in the offseason. He will not easily give up his financial sacrifice. This is a completely different attitude from the Clippers star Harden. James has never taken the initiative to reduce his salary significantly in his career, but it is obvious that his annual salary next season will become a big restriction on the financial resources of the Lakers recruiting and recruiting players.

James reached a two-year, $101.3 million contract extension with the Lakers in the 2024 offseason, and he has a player option contract of $52.6 million in the 2025-2026 season. However, if James chooses to jump out of his contract this offseason and renew his contract with the Lakers, he will not accept an annual salary reduction space of $15-17 million, but this is very important to the Lakers, because with this middle-class salary exception, they can recruit more powerful starting center players in the trading market.

40-year-old James played for the Lakers in the 2024-2025 season. He played in a total of 70 games in the regular season, averaged 35.0 minutes per game, scored 24.4 points + 7.8 rebounds + 8.2 assists + 1.0 steals + 0.7 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 51.0%, a three-point shooting percentage of 37.0%, and a free throw shooting percentage of 78.0%.