Lakers could lose LeBron James and Anthony Davis at the same time
By Zamir Bueno
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has publicly recommitted to the team. James told reporters on February 26th that he wants to be a Laker as long as possible. He made these comments after hinting that he would be willing to play elsewhere during the All-Star Weekend.
James stated during All-Star Weekend that the door was not closed on a return (subscription required) to the Cleveland Cavaliers at some point in the future. His comments were likely made out of frustration because the Lakers refused to upgrade the roster before the trade deadline. James wanted the team to trade Russell Westbrook for John Wall, but management refused.
Lakers could lose LeBron James and Anthony Davis at the same time
Unfortunately, James’ public commitment to the Lakers organization doesn’t hold any weight, because he has previously made commitments to other teams and left those organizations a couple of months later.
For example, James told NBA TV’s Steve Smith on February 18th, 2014 that he couldn’t imagine being anywhere but with the Miami Heat long-term. However, he decided to leave the organization and rejoin the Cleveland Cavaliers just five months later.
James reportedly left Miami because he wasn’t happy that the team wouldn’t comply with his demands. He wanted Miami to upgrade the roster during the 2013 offseason. Unfortunately, the team didn’t want to spend more money and refused to go into the luxury tax, instead, using the mid-level exception to acquire new players. More importantly, Miami decided to shed money by letting go of Mike Miller.
The Heat wasn’t the only organization that he publicly committed to and went back on his word. Bill Simmons of The Ringer stated in July of 2017 that everybody around the league was speculating that James would sign with the Lakers in 2018.
A month later, Chris Sheridan stated that LeBron was leaving Cleveland after the following season. James denied these claims by saying his thought process hadn’t changed – he wanted to stay in Cleveland for the remainder of his career. However, those statements were not true, as just one year later, James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.