Lakers News: LeBron James Addresses Player Option, Possible Free Agency
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Ahead of your Los Angeles Lakers' matchup against the New York Knicks tonight, All-Star power forward LeBron James was asked by Jovan Buha of The Athletic about how he will handle his $51 million player option for the 2023-24 season. He could theoretically opt out of the final year of his current deal, which would make the still-effective 39-year-old an unrestricted free agent once again.
Lakers fans may not want to read what happened next.
"No," James offered tersely in response.
The 6'9" superstar, a four-time league MVP and champion, has had an impressive 21st season thus far with Los Angeles. For the 25-25 Lakers, James is averaging 24.9 points on .520/.397/.726 shooting splits, 7.7 assists and 7.5 rebounds a night.
He's been pretty much the same solid scoring and passing force he usually is, with some notable changes. In making 39.7% of his 5.4 three-point attempts, James is shooting better from deep than he has for all but one season (he nailed 40.6% from long range on 3.3 triple tries in 2012-13 with the Miami Heat), but his free throw attempts remain significantly below their peak output. He has so far shot 5.6 foul shots a night, a far cry from his Cleveland Cavaliers peak of 10.3 charity stripe attempts in 2007-08.
