Throughout his career, the Los Angeles Lakers forward has signed contracts for $483 million with multiple organizations. This summer, he will surpass the 500 million mark.
LeBron James has made numerous contributions to NBA history. He is the player with the most All-Star Game appearances (20), the all-time leading scorer, and the first to surpass the 40,000 point barrier (40,114 points after adding another 18 against the Sacramento Kings last night). A sequence of firsts and grandeur are only within grasp of a one-of-a-kind player with no end: at 39 years old, he has played in 21 seasons in the North American League, and the way things are going, it.
LeBron is contemplating his choices and is unwilling to stop.
In the medium term, he hopes to play with his son Bronny in the NBA. In addition, there is the chance of being the first player in the League to earn more than $500 million in contracts signed with numerous teams, aside from advertising, branding, sponsorship deals, and film production… The sum currently stands at $483 million from contracts he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers (twice), the Miami Heat, and the Los Angeles Lakers.
LeBron’s player option for 2024–25
To surpass $500 million, LeBron simply needs to exercise his player option for $51.4 million and play his seventh consecutive season with the Los Angeles Lakers. Since his first stay with Cleveland, James has never spent as much time with the same team.
However, the forward has three more possibilities that will allow him to increase his money account and continue his career for at least three years. According to the provisions of the deal, players above the age of 38 cannot sign for more than three years.
– Not that it matters much because LeBron’s previous contracts were brief: a two-year extension in 2020 and a four-year pact with the Lakers in 2018, plus two with Cleveland in 2014.
On the one hand, he can immediately extend his deal with the Lakers until 2027 for $164 million (player option of $51.4 million + $53.9 million + $58.3 million). On the other side, he can cancel his contract with the Angelenos and sign a new one for $162 million (50 million + 54 million + 58 million). Finally, the last option is to look for a new home and pay $157.5 million (50+52+55).
This third option offers a minor issue for James, since only the Lakers can sign an anti-transfer clause for him. It implies that the franchise can decide whether or not to sign him – owing to a stipulation that only players with at least eight seasons in the NBA can have written into their contracts, with four in a row on the same team, and whose new agreement is not an extension, but rather a new contract.
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