Reporting for the midnight SportsCenter on LeBron James and the Lakers.

Watch Reporting for the midnight SportsCenter on LeBron James and the Lakers. - Smoking Gorilla on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00I want to talk about LeBron James and his mindset.

00:02What is his mindset at this exact point in time, looking at what's ahead?

00:06Right now, LeBron James understands the Lakers are prioritizing the future

00:11in a lot of ways that really centers around Luka Doncic.

00:14And he knows they're going to go younger at different points.

00:18They are really prioritizing two-year contracts right now.

00:21They want to have max salary space in 2027.

00:25But for his part, at this point in his career, at his age, at 40 years old, going on 41,

00:32he wants to compete for a championship, wherever that may be, in Los Angeles,

00:37or there are conversations to be had at another point.

00:40The Lakers, their president, Rob Palenka, they're being active.

00:42They're trying to figure out how to get a center right now in free agency,

00:46try to get some wing depth.

00:48LeBron James is very closely evaluating essentially how this goes with the Lakers

00:53and where he would want his career to be as he winds down,

00:58whether he has one year left, two years left, or three years left.

01:02What we're seeing right now is essentially a moment of truth

01:04between LeBron James and the Lakers.