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00:00But big breaking news in the other association, that would be the NBA on this Wednesday morning.
00:09LeBron James is signing once again with the LA Lakers, a two-year deal worth the maximum
00:15amount of $104 million to remain in LA.
00:20He opted out earlier this summer and this offseason, but all expectations, Donnie, is
00:26that LeBron James would remain in Los Angeles.
00:29He does.
00:30Two-year deal, $104 million.
00:33However, there was a thought that maybe LeBron James would take a reduced amount so the Lakers
00:38could booster up the roster and sign some other players to help them make a true run
00:44toward contention.
00:46Did not do that, which is not necessarily a great sign for the Lakers that they were
00:50in the running for any of the available free agents still standing.
00:55And it's wild because we'll get to that thought process in a second, but just the fact that
00:58like LeBron is a great teammate to have because it's not just a ball-centric guy that says,
01:03I'm just going to clog it up.
01:04Remember Carmelo Anthony, the problem was like, he's a great scorer, but nobody wants
01:07to play with the guy because he just backs people down for 15 seconds and shoots a fade
01:11away and says, that's the best offense that we have.
01:13That's what we're going to do.
01:14Like LeBron does it all.
01:15A lot of assists here.
01:16He can play point guard at times.
01:18It's always just a wonder.
01:19Like I understand the Miami Heat had the big three and it worked out in spades down there
01:23in Miami.
01:24But the fact of the matter is you just can't find that third person to go along with LeBron
01:27James.
01:28And also, yes, the point bringing up where, okay, we knew he was going to opt out of his
01:32contract.
01:33The only thing that would have thrown things into a loop, right?
01:35If Bronny James didn't get drafted by the Lakers and he got angry that he was told that
01:39was going to happen, he opts out, he leaves, that was going to be a far-fetched answer
01:42to the situation.
01:43But we always thought LeBron James was going to be there.
01:45But the fact of the matter, he said, look, I'm going to opt out, obviously, because I
01:49want to opt back in, but I'm willing to take a discount.
01:53If you guys bring to the table a player that I really believe is going to help me in a
01:57quest for another championship, I'll take as much as $20 million less in order for that
02:02to happen.
02:03They didn't wait long here in free agency to close this deal and give him the max contract
02:07extension, which means they're not going to get the benefit.
02:10Now, granted, there's some exception contracts you can have and veteran exceptions.
02:14We get all that.
02:15But this was supposed to be on top of that.
02:17I'm willing to forego salary to bring in another player.
02:20The fact that we see that maximum deal, there is no star player coming along again.
02:24So you get what you get, I guess, out there in Los Angeles.