Last season, rumors surfaced about potential blockbuster trade discussions involving LeBron James moving from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Golden State Warriors. Reports indicated that talks were serious enough to involve ownership from both teams. However, the Lakers would only have traded James if he had requested the move to the Warriors.
In the end, no agreement was reached, and James remained in Los Angeles. One reason for this may have been the opposition of James’ agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, to the trade idea. Paul advised against it to protect his client from potential criticism that would have followed his fourth team change.
Before his time with the Lakers, James had previously left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in 2010, returned to the Cavs in 2014, and then departed Cleveland again for the Lakers in 2018.