The King is back in The Big Apple, and LeBron James continues to keep NBA fans and media on their toes as the trade deadline approaches.
The Lakers are set to take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, and James has never shied away from admitting his love for playing in one of basketball’s most prestigious arenas. Parlay that with Los Angeles’ recent struggles and New York’s surge of success and the “LeBron to the Knicks” crowd has the perfect storm to cook up narratives.
After the Lakers dropped a disappointing loss to the Hawks on Tuesday to fall below .500, James had a cryptic post with a single hourglass emoji on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The internet was quick to point out that James chose the empty hourglass emoji, suggesting that maybe time has run out in Los Angeles. This is far from the first time that James has stirred up drama with a social media post, causing the masses to assume he could seek a trade from the Lakers.
MORE: A timeline and history of LeBron James’ cryptic social media posts
James’ agent Rich Paul urgently ended those rumors, telling ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, “LeBron won’t be traded, and we aren’t asking to be.”
And while that closed the speculation that James could be moved at the Feb. 8 trade deadline, the 39-year-old superstar got the New York faithful’s hopes up with his comments ahead of Saturday’s Lakers-Knicks game.
LeBron James teases idea of playing for Knicks ahead of Lakers’ game at Madison Square Garden
Even after his agent made his current stance clear, James was still toying with NBA fans on social media. He replied to his business partner’s post of an apple emoji on X with a Statue of Liberty and crown emoji, forcing Knicks fans to remain calm.
🗽👑
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 3, 2024
A regular for theatrics, James is calculated and knows exactly what he is doing.
During his media availability before his return to Madison Square Garden, he declined to comment on his cryptic tweets before addressing questions about his future.
James signed a two-year, $ 99 million contract with the Lakers during the 2022 offseason with a player option in the second year. That means at the end of the 2023-24 season, James has the choice to pick up his $ 51.4 million option and remain in Los Angeles in 2024-25, or decline his player option and become an unrestricted free agent.
When asked if he knows what he’ll do with his contract option for the Lakers this summer, James plainly stated, “No.”
But when he was asked if he has ever entertained the idea of playing in New York, he admitted that it’s something he has thought about before.
“During my free agency period in 2010, it was one of the places I looked at,” James told the media.
“I’ve had that thought in my career.”
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That comment has piqued interest, considering James’ potential free agency and the Knicks being as close to a title contender as they have been during LeBron’s two decades in the NBA.
New York owns the league’s best record since the start of the New Year, going 15-2 in that span to skyrocket into third place in the Eastern Conference at 32-17. Led by All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, two-way forward O.G. Anunoby and talented role players like Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo and Isaiah Hartenstein, the Knicks are built for a postseason push.
On the flip side, the Lakers have struggled mightily, sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference at 25-25. Los Angeles exhausted the majority of its future assets to build a championship team around James and Anthony Davis, but the roster seems to have maximized its potential.
If James ever truly entertains the idea of joining the Knicks in the offseason, he would either have to opt into his player option and get traded or execute a sign-and-trade since New York isn’t projected to have enough cap space.
That won’t stop fans in blue and orange from dreaming about the possibility of bringing The King to The Mecca of Basketball, though.
