LABron James Discussion: The Final Year?

People are only “weird” about him because of all his scheming and jabbing through the media and via Rich Paul.
The dude on the court: very intelligent and kinda respectable(outside of the ref complaining- which Kobe did too much of as well).
The dude off the court? Complete jacka$$ narcissist who Always puts himself first(basketball related), to the detriment of the Franchise that pays him insane amounts of money to throw a ball through a hoop. Then he, and Paul, constantly throw it back in everyone else’s faces that they are innocent, that they don’t try harder than anyone else at controlling the pieces on the board.
Many like me, will be happy when this circus comes to an end.
I actually applaud him for staying with his wife all these years while keeping his family together.

 

DNP Old

I suppose we should get used to this. But at max salary, that kind of bites. You are paying for marketability and ticket sales, but you are no longer going to get that value on the court. Period Point Blank. Just not going to happen.

 

And you're just rehashing not sensible stuff. Two years ago he was signed to that contract. Aside from you hating him of course we do that contract. And as has been pointed out here numerous times many of the grass is greener "other" stars and pseudo stars we have wanted 10-15 years younger than him have had as many or more injuries in their careers.

 

As of October 2025, 16 NBA players are making over $50 million in base salary for the 2025–2026 season
.

Players making over $50M for the 2025–26 season
The players projected to earn over $50 million in base salary for the 2025-26 season include
Stephen Curry
($59.6M),
Joel Embiid
($55.2M),
Nikola Jokić
($55.2M),
Kevin Durant
($54.7M),
Jayson Tatum
($54.1M),
Giannis Antetokounmpo
($54.1M),
Anthony Davis
($54.1M),
Jimmy Butler
($54.1M),
Damian Lillard
($54.1M),
Devin Booker
($53.1M),
Jaylen Brown
($53.1M),
Karl-Anthony Towns
($53.1M),
Bradley Beal
($53.7M),
LeBron James
($52.6M),
Paul George
($51.7M), and
Kawhi Leonard
($50.0M).

 

Only 2 guys better than Bron. Makes me feel a little bit better...

 

First of all, I was not directing this at you, it is a general statement about how things work in the age of the internet. Mostly I just liked what JDLakersFan2019 said. Second off, I have made a living at points in my life selling alcohol. I owned a wine shop. I don't view any of it as inherently bad in any way. I view alcoholics poorly but IMHO, repping for a cognac, whiskey or wine, etc. is perfectly acceptable to me and I could care less what others think about that. Many people drink responsibly and those are the people I enjoy.

Lebron gets wailed on everywhere. I don't love his views on many things in life, but endorsing cognac is not one of the problems I have with him. He is not a perfect person and if he ever ran for political office, I would never vote for him but dang if he isn't a good basketball player and a mostly reasonable role model.

It doesn't matter what anyone does or thinks, there is always someone on the web who will take issue with anything you say. I got zero patience or time for that stuff. I am not trying to push my opinion but will gladly ignore others who share their opinions on stuff that doesn't matter much to me.

 

What if he’s not playing? Is he still better than guys who are?

 

Thank you for the detailed answer. I get your point.

Cheers and go Lakers.

 

Why are we acting like we lost Lebron for the season?

 

What if guys 10 years younger than him who are valuable to their teams aren't playing? Why do people just ignore that injuries are all over the league of all types and degrees of severity .... for players much younger and not nearly as good as him when they're on the floor, and out for periods as long or worse than him including the playoffs?

 

And I'm pissed that he apparently went Vlad Radmonovich and injured himself with non basketball activity, though golf isn't in the same zip code for a dangerous other than basketball activity. Have to wonder with all the golf and torso twisting all of a sudden this summer weren't their warning twinges that maybe should have caught his attention before it got to this level?

 

I just asked a question. I’m not ignoring the fact that others get injured. I tend to focus on what’s going on with my team and not worry about the others until the playoffs.
The facts remain: he was injured during last season’s playoffs and already injured before game one and makes a third of the cap.
I can’t wait until we won’t need to rely on a 41 year old dude to win. Maybe this team surprises everyone and wins without him?
Then, he won’t have to ask for a trade.