EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said the franchise is “grateful” for the LeBron James era, which ended this offseason.
James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency, ending his eight-year run with the Lakers.
“But I thought it would be appropriate just at the front to express gratitude for the LeBron era here,” Pelinka said. “Clearly, new team, new players, and that’s what we’re going to talk about today, but we just as an organization are still grateful for the run that we had with him here.
“The Lakers have become, as they should, a perennial playoff team, won a championship, went to the Western Conference Finals. And it was a great era, and we’re grateful for it.”
LeBron Era Lasted From 2018-19 To 2025-26
James signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2018. He guided the franchise to the 2020 championship at the Walt Disney World bubble and the 2023 Western Conference Finals.
James made eight All-Star teams and seven All-NBA teams with the Lakers. He averaged 25.9 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game in the regular season and 25.6 points, 9.1 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game in the playoffs.
“Shoutout my former team. I spent eight great years with the Los Angeles Lakers,” James said in July at the CNBC and Boardroom Game Plan Summit. “One of the most historical franchises in the world. Shoutout Jeanie Buss, the whole Buss family. Rob Pelinka. Everybody. All the coaches that I played for there. All my teammates. S—, I am going to miss them all, obviously. So, that was an unbelievable ride.”
James averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game for the Lakers last season as the third option behind Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. The future Hall of Famer was the No. 1 option for Los Angeles in the 2026 playoffs because Dončić didn’t play due to a hamstring injury and Reaves missed Games 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the first round with an oblique injury.
James put up 23.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game in the ’26 playoffs in 10 games against the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.
He remains an elite performer despite being the oldest active player in the NBA, which is why several teams were interested in signing him.
Inside LeBron’s Massive Decision To Join Philly
June 30, 2026. That’s the day James’ agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, informed the Lakers that King James would not return to the franchise.
One day later, the 76ers agreed to acquire Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster deal that ultimately pushed James to sign with the franchise one of his closest friends, Hall of Famer Allen Iverson, used to star for.
“The Jaylen trade pushed LeBron to sign with Philly,” a source told Dallas Sports Journal.
This offseason was the first time since 2018 James was an unrestricted free agent. The 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat were the four teams the NBA icon seriously considered joining before eventually signing with Philadelphia.
Had the 76ers not traded for Brown, James would not be in Philadelphia.
“LeBron would not be on the 76ers right now if they didn’t get Jaylen,” a source told Dallas Sports Journal. “That was the move that made this all happen.”
When James’ son, Bronny James, was playing in Summer League for the Lakers in 2024, Brown was caught on camera saying, “I don’t think Bronny is a pro.” Sources said LeBron was not happy about what Brown had to say about his son, who nearly died in July 2023 when he suffered a cardiac arrest during a basketball workout at the University of Southern California.
LeBron thought a player of Brown’s caliber would understand that it would take Bronny time to regain confidence and rhythm on the basketball court after such a traumatic event, sources said.
When the 76ers acquired Brown, many people around the NBA speculated that the move would deter them from getting LeBron. However, sources told Dallas Sports Journal at the beginning of July that LeBron and Brown have moved past their differences and are on good terms, so much so that Brown — along with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey — heavily recruited LeBron to the City of Brotherly Love.
LeBron didn’t tell Paul about his decision to sign with the 76ers until one hour past midnight on July 24. The King kept going back and forth between Philadelphia, Miami and Cleveland, sources said.
While LeBron has always wanted to play with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, and living in San Francisco would have allowed him to be close to his wife and daughter in Los Angeles, LeBron never seriously considered joining the Warriors, sources said.
“It was between Miami, Philly and Cleveland for LeBron,” a source told Dallas Sports Journal. “He’s already won in Miami and Cleveland. He wanted a new challenge and wants to bring Philly a ring.”
The 76ers have never advanced past the second round of the playoffs in the Embiid era. That will likely change this upcoming season with LeBron in the fold next to Embiid, Maxey, Brown and VJ Edgecombe.
