That sigh of relief you just heard was from execs at the NBA, TNT, ABC & ESPN after LeBron James’ two-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers was announced.
The deal will keep the league’s marquee player in the league for at least two more years — health permitting. It means James, who is “box office” in the parlance of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, will remain a player on the league’s marquee team through 2024, and possibly longer. That’s good for ratings, even if the Lakers can’t make the playoffs.
The deal, as announced by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, is for “a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension – including a player option for the 2024-2025 season. James had been entering final year of deal worth $44.5M.”
The extension makes James “the highest earning player in NBA history with $532M in guaranteed money,” surpassing Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, according to Wojnarowski.
BREAKING: Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has agreed on a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension – including a player option for the 2024-2025 season, @KlutchSports CEO Rich Paul tells ESPN. James had been entering final year of deal worth $44.5M.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 17, 2022
The deal is remarkable in multiple respects, beyond just the money, which Wojnarowski reports could “increase to $111 million if the salary cap in 2023-2024 rises to a substantially higher number.” Also noteworthy is that the league’s TV rights deal is up in 2025.
If James picks up his player option for the third year, he will end the 2024-2025 season at the age of 40. Only a few dozen players in NBA history have played past their 40th birthday, including Lakers’ legend Karen Abdul Jabbar, whom James would undoubtedly pass as the league’s all-time leading scorer if he finishes out the contract.
While many will question the deal by pointing to James’ age and recent spate of injuries, it’s worth noting that on a lackluster Lakers squad which was missing his co-superstar Anthony Davis for much of last season, the four-time BNA champ averaged 30.3 points per game, 8 rebounds per game and 6.1 assists per game. That’s the second-highest scoring average of his career, topped only by 31.4 points per game 16 years ago in 2005-2006.