Source Says LeBron James Might Have Stayed With Lakers Under New $12.5 Billion Ownership

LOS ANGELES — A source close to LeBron James told ESPN that the star forward’s decision to leave the Los Angeles Lakers this summer might have played out differently had the team’s record $12.5 billion sale to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner taken place before he became a free agent, adding a new layer to an offseason that has already reshaped the franchise twice over.

James announced in late July that he would sign with the Philadelphia 76ers rather than return to the Lakers for a ninth season, ending an eight-year run in Los Angeles that included the franchise’s 17th NBA championship. Less than a month later, the Lakers themselves changed hands, with former Disney chief executive Bob Iger and venture capitalist Josh Kushner purchasing the team from Mark Walter for $12.5 billion, a figure that smashed the previous North American professional sports franchise record Walter himself had set just one year earlier when he bought the Lakers from the Buss family for approximately $10 billion.

ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, who has closely covered James for years as one of the reporters most associated with the star’s beat, asked a source close to James whether the ownership change, had it occurred sooner, might have influenced his decision to stay in Los Angeles. The source offered a measured, hedged response. “Maybe,” the source said. “But that’s tough to answer. Communication could have been better [with Iger and Kushner, compared to Walter]. Just a different relationship. But the basketball piece was the most important, so maybe not from that standpoint.”

That final caveat, that the underlying basketball fit mattered more than the identity of ownership, has been echoed across much of the reporting and fan reaction following McMenamin’s story. Under Walter’s brief tenure, the Lakers made clear their long-term roster plans centered on 26-year-old star Luka Dončić, acquired in a blockbuster trade in February 2025, rather than around James, who turned 41 during the final stretch of last season. That shift in organizational priorities left James in a position some analysts have described as increasingly peripheral to the franchise’s forward-looking plans, even as he remained a productive and highly respected player through his final Lakers season.

James ultimately signed a two-year, $8 million contract with Philadelphia, a deal he has described as his “last decision” after saying he seriously considered retirement before choosing to continue his career for one more run at a championship. His move reunited him with a 76ers roster that has been dramatically reshaped this offseason, including the addition of All-NBA forward Jaylen Brown alongside returning stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, giving James a chance to compete for a title without needing to be the primary offensive engine, a role he largely occupied during his final seasons in Los Angeles.

Reaction to the report linking the Lakers’ ownership change to James’ free agency decision has been mixed, with a notable share of fans and commentators expressing skepticism about how much weight the single “maybe” from an anonymous source should actually carry. Social media reaction following the story included users questioning whether the comment amounted to meaningful new information at all, with some pointing out that a hedged, noncommittal response falls well short of confirming that James would have stayed under different circumstances. Others speculated more pointedly about the specific relationships in play, noting that Josh Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, and questioning whether that family connection might have complicated any hypothetical relationship between James and the new ownership group regardless of communication style.

Beyond the James speculation, the change in Lakers ownership has already begun generating its own set of storylines. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne has pointed to Iger’s close personal relationship with recently retired point guard Chris Paul as a potential avenue for the new owners to bring additional basketball mentorship into the organization around Dončić, given Paul’s reputation as one of the league’s most respected basketball minds heading into retirement. McMenamin has separately suggested that Lakers head coach JJ Redick, who signed a contract extension under the previous ownership regime, appears well positioned to remain in his role under the new group, at least for now.

The Lakers’ ownership change also carries an unusual wrinkle given Iger’s history as a longtime, publicly known fan of the crosstown rival Los Angeles Clippers, a detail that has added an extra layer of intrigue to his arrival atop one of the NBA’s most storied franchises. How that history might shape his approach to running the Lakers, if at all, remains to be seen as the new ownership group settles into place.

For now, the Lakers enter the 2026-27 season fully committed to building around Dončić, following a roster overhaul that included trading rookie big man Johni Broome and making other moves to manage the team’s salary-cap situation heading into the new campaign. James, meanwhile, is set to begin his Philadelphia tenure with a nationally televised season opener against the New York Knicks on October 20, a fixture that will also double as the Knicks’ championship ring ceremony following their 2026 NBA Finals win.

Whether an earlier Lakers sale genuinely could have altered the outcome of one of the most closely watched free agency decisions in recent NBA history remains, by the account of James’ own camp, a fundamentally unanswerable question, one now left to speculation as both James and the Lakers move forward along separate paths this coming season.