A week ago, James was willing to take a salary cut of about $16 million to help the Lakers release a full mid-range exception to bring in some All-Star-caliber stars, but the Lakers' recruitment failed.
Today, James spoke in an interview about the matter: "A slap in the face, I think the management and the coaching staff, they tried to do what they wanted to do, tried to get the players over, but it didn't happen. And that's okay. It's part of the business. I've been in this business long enough to know that sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. ”
"So we're not going to sit here lying or crying, we're going to keep going, Klay Thompson is a fantastic player, DeMar DeRozan is a fantastic player, Valanciunas is one of those guys who ended up going to Washington, they're the ones who negotiated with us, but we're going to move on and see how we can get better."
This is the first time James has received a pay cut.
Yesterday, the Lakers officially announced that they had reached a contract extension with James.
The original contract was worth $104 million for 2 years, but according to Shams, James took another salary cut this time, taking nearly 3 million less, and the total contract for the last two years was $101.355 billion.
James helped the Lakers save a lot of trouble, because if they exceed the second line, the Lakers will be subject to a lot of restrictions, such as not being able to pack multiple players in a trade in exchange for a player with a high salary, not being able to get back a player's salary more than the player who was traded away, losing the mini-middle class exception and can only sign players with a base salary, etc.
You see, James is doing his best to indirectly help the Lakers' recruitment efforts.
James also talked about his 3 million salary cut today: "I can help the team to stay below the second line and protect the team, and it's difficult for a lot of teams to understand this new thing, everyone wants to get better. I've had a 7-year relationship with the Lakers, so I don't mind taking a pay cut at all. ”
He's really, I'm crying to death...
And although the Lakers have not made any moves on the free agent trade market so far, James still maintains confidence that the Lakers can compete for a championship. He said, "Of course! Because we've done it, and we still have two teammates who train with me and Bushy Eyebrows every day. We are committed to excellence and to win. We feel that in any situation, in any year, we have the opportunity to put ourselves in a position where we can succeed, and we are not far from success. We're only a year away from the Western Finals. Obviously, this year is not as good as last year, not as good as we would like, but it's not very far away either. There are a lot of strong teams in the league and we don't think we're going to be too far behind in the West. ”
I'd love to see James clink glasses with Bronny.
James also said of Bronny today: "Imagine if you were a kid and you were born into an environment where your father was very famous and your family was very wealthy, and you still had the motivation to want to achieve your goals for yourself. I don't know if I'll be able to do this if the roles are reversed. ”
"When I was growing up, I had no choice, I had to work hard for myself. For my mother, my family, my hometown, my city. Bronny has all the options he wants in this world, and if he wants to stop now, never play basketball, or just want to be an esports player, or be a chef, or do nothing, he can choose whatever he wants. ”
"People don't understand how hard it is, they don't understand how much effort it took him, he just had heart surgery less than a year ago, and he had to work hard to get into the NBA. This kid, he's special. But he doesn't care, really, he doesn't care, it doesn't bother him. ”
Indeed, just imagine, if you were a brownie, would you have been lying flat a long time ago?
Finally, James was asked by reporters whether the 2-year, 101.35 million contract extension with the Lakers was the last contract of his career, James replied: "It may or may not be, let's wait and see." ”
Go ahead and cherish it and enjoy every next game James plays.