LeBron James has signed a two-year contract extension worth the maximum $85 million to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers through the 2022-23 season, his agent, Rich Paul, told Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The 35-year-old is fresh off winning his fourth NBA championship with the Lakers in October, defeating the Miami Heat in six games to end a 2019-20 season that was extended to 354 days in total due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Teaming up with Anthony Davis in his second year with the Lakers, James averaged 25.3 points and a league-leading 10.2 assists per game to create one of the most feared dynamic duos in the NBA.
Considered the greatest player of this generation and one of the very best of all-time, James has averaged at least 25 points per game over in each of the last 16 seasons.
James turns 36 years old on Dec. 30, just over one week after the start of the 2020-21 NBA season that will feature his Lakers playing the Los Angeles Clippers on opening night, Dec. 22.
Three days later, they’ll be apart of the NBA’s loaded Christmas Day matchup where they’ll host the Dallas Mavericks.
The Lakers are one of the favorites to win the 2021 NBA championship this season, which would be the franchise’s 18th all-time.
When James’ contract does expire in 2023, he’ll be nearing his 39th birthday while his son, Bronny will be graduating high school and could make the jump straight to the NBA if the league and players’ association amend the high-school-to-pro rule. James made the jump from high school to the pros in 2003 where he was the first-overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers out of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, OH.
Should his son make that jump to the NBA, James could sign with the team that drafts Bronny to create a star-studded father-son duo for the 2023-24 season.
