LeBron James Prefers To Stay With Los Angeles Lakers; Golden State Warriors Very Interested In The King

LeBron James becomes an unrestricted free agent this NBA offseason for the first time since 2018 and he prefers to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

James has been with the Lakers since the 2018-19 season. He guided the franchise to the 2020 championship. LAL also made the Western Conference Finals in 2023.

Fischer and Stein also report that the Golden State Warriors are very interested in signing James, who is close friends with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

“Staying with the Lakers is widely believed to be his preferred choice because he is so entrenched in Los Angeles now after eight seasons with the purple and gold,” Fischer and Stein wrote. “Yet league sources maintain that Golden State remains legitimately interested in adding LeBron to their Stephen Curry/Jimmy Butler/Draymond Green core coached by Steve Kerr … with the pitch presumed to include the idea that LeBron could commute from Los Angeles to some TBD degree without having to move his family.”

The Warriors missed the playoffs this season, while the Lakers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round in four games.

LAL superstar Luka Dončić missed the entire 2026 playoffs because of a serious hamstring injury, while Austin Reaves missed Games 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Lakers-Houston Rockets first-round series due to an oblique strain. LAL beat Houston in six games behind James.

A 22-time All-Star and arguably the greatest player in NBA history, James played in 60 games this regular season. He averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game, once again proving that he has conquered Father Time. In the 2026 playoffs against the Rockets and Thunder, James put up 23.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game.

James is a four-time MVP, four-time champion and four-time Finals MVP. He’s played for the Cleveland Cavaliers (twice), Miami Heat and Lakers and is the all-time leader in points, field goals, games and minutes.

It will certainly be fascinating to see what James does this summer. The sports legend is the oldest active player in the NBA. He turns 42 in December.

“It’s up to the mind,” James told TIME. “Where the mind goes, the body will lay. When I’m not in love with getting to the arenas on game days five hours before to start my preparation, if I’m out of love with getting to practice 2½ hours beforehand, then I know I’ll be done. Because then I’m going to start cheating the game.”

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