LeBron James signs deal to stay with Lakers, opening door to first father-son teammates in NBA history

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James signed an extension to stay with the franchise, officers confirmed on X Sunday, resulting in a possible NBA first of father-son teammates.

The NBA’s all-time main scorer final week opted out of a $51.4 million payday for the upcoming 2024-25 season, although most observers believed James had no actual intention of leaving Southern California.

Phrases of the pact weren’t disclosed, although ESPN reported that the deal was value $104 million over two years.

James, who averaged 25.7 factors, 8.3 assists and seven.3 rebounds final season, is considered among the finest gamers in league historical past. He’s a four-time NBA champion, four-time Finals MVP, four-time NBA MVP and 20-time All-Star.

With the 39-year-old James remaining in purple and gold, that implies that he and his son Bronny James might make historical past this upcoming season as the primary multigenerational duo. The Lakers used their second-round draft choose, No. 55 general, to pick out the guard out of the College of Southern California.

The youthful James entered his freshman season as an anticipated first-rounder however struggled, averaging simply 4.8 factors per contest for a USC workforce that misplaced 18 video games and completed within the backside third of the Pac-12. That mild résumé didn’t cease the Lakers from apparently attempting to assist LeBron James obtain this NBA first that he’s spoken overtly about through the years.

Whereas NBA followers have seen a number of father-son duos through the years, most notably the sharpshooting mixture of Dell and Steph Curry, none of them ever performed on the hardwood concurrently.

Hours after Bronny James was drafted, LeBron posted a slideshow on Instagram that includes pictures of him and his son on the courtroom with the caption “LEGACY!!!!!!”