James' retirement suspense revealed. According to Mark Medina, James will be healthy into the 21st season of his career, and he will fulfill his remaining 2-year, $97 million contract.
James is such a player, as long as it is a signed contract, he will fulfill it. James left the Cavaliers twice and the Heat once, both after fulfilling their contracts. In the 17-18 season, Irving left the Cavaliers to join the Celtics, and the Cavaliers' strength has seriously declined, and they are clearly not the opponents of the Warriors. But James fulfilled his contract and led the Cavaliers to the Finals. Although the Finals Cavaliers were swept 4-0 by the Warriors, James' performance that season was impeccable, and he did everything he could. James left the Cavaliers to join the Lakers at the end of the season, which is understandable to everyone, including Cavaliers fans.
When James first left the Cavaliers, Cavaliers fans were angry. James left the Cavaliers for the second time, and Cavaliers fans expressed understanding and gratitude for his contribution to the team. James left the team three times, but all of them left after his contract expired. During the contract period, he will not apply for a trade like Durant and Harden, nor will he not play like Irving and Simmons. James will fulfill his contract, play every game, and then leave when his contract expires.
James has 2 years left on his contract with the Lakers, so his return is to be expected, and that is his usual style. In fact, James did not say that he would retire, he only talked about considering retirement in an interview when he was out of the Western Conference Finals. James is 38 years old, and it's normal to think about retiring at this age. Considering decommissioning and decommissioning right away is still different.
James' 97 million return to the Lakers also made history. As a result, James' career total salary will reach 532 million, which is a record in NBA history and the only player in NBA history with a total salary of more than 500 million. Durant ranked second with $498.6 million, Curry with $470 million in third place, and Lillard ranked fourth with $449.9 million. Of course, as the salary cap gets higher and higher, so will the contracts signed by players, and James' all-time record will one day be broken.
James, who will be 39 next season, will continue to lead the Lakers to a championship. Previously, some Lakers reporters analyzed that the reason James considered retiring was to put pressure on the Lakers management to upgrade the roster. But according to US media reports, James will not interfere with any specific free agent signing or trade. No matter how the Lakers structure their roster after the free agency opens, it won't affect James' return to the Lakers to fulfill his contract.
The Lakers' primary goal this offseason is to keep Reeves and Hachimura. The Lakers have made qualifying offers to Hachimura and Reeves as restricted free agents. The Lakers have said they will match any offer from Reeves, even if it's a 4-year, $100 million contract. The meaning of the Lakers' words is to tell the team that intends Reeves, don't waste time on Reeves, you can't get Reeves. By doing so, the Lakers may have Reeves-interested teams cancel their offer to Reeves. And if there is no team to offer Reeves, then the Lakers only need to use 4 years and 50 million at most to complete the contract extension with Reeves.