For the time being, LeBron James wants to remain a Laker and the Lakers want to keep James in Los Angeles.
The Warriors inquired about James’ availability prior to the Feb. 8 trade deadline, according to ESPN, and were rejected by the superstar and the Lakers. Despite the allure of playing with Stephen Curry, the Warriors’ fading dominance and lackluster record this season didn’t trump living the L.A. lifestyle.
However, things could change come the summer time, when James can become a free agent thanks to a player option that was part of the two-year, $99 million extension he signed in the summer of 2022.
If he opts out of a $51.4 million salary for 2024-25, James would be on the hunt for what could be the last multi-year deal of his career.
If not the Lakers, where could the 20-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion go?
The Garden is one possible spot.
James even teased the possibility of joining the Knicks when he came to New York, wearing a Knicks towel around his shoulders during an on-court interview following the Lakers’ 113-105 win on Feb. 3.
From one point of view, the towel choice, along with some cryptic social media posts, could have been part of an effort to light a fire under the Lakers to use their draft picks to give him more roster help. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who has covered James’ career since high school, believed the act was certainly intentional.
“Obviously LeBron often wears towels. and this is why it’s so brilliant because he has perfect deniability,” Windhorst said on his “Hoops Collective” podcast. “He can just be like, ‘Oh, I just put a towel around my shoulders. What are you talking about? You guys are out of your mind.’ But this is what LeBron excels at. He computes all this stuff. Of course, he was cognizant and aware he was putting on a towel that said New York Knicks. Why would he mess with the Knicks? Because he was using the Knicks as a tool to pressure the Lakers.”
From another angle, as The Post’s Stefan Bondy pointed out, James would make a great fit for the Knicks — for the first time basketball-wise in his illustrious career — and maybe the star recognized that as well.
The Knicks (33-22) — despite a slump that reached four straight losses Wednesday night in Orlando — are a better, more title-ready team than the Lakers (30-26), especially when they are back to full strength.
And The Post reported the Knicks front office has made peace with LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul, and the Klutch Sports group.
The struggling Warriors still could be considered an option if they were to try again to acquire James in the summer. James has talked about wanting to team up with Curry, and the Warriors could have Klay Thompson coming off the books.
The pairing of James and Curry would be an undeniable super duo. It would be like if Patrick Mahomes and Justin Jefferson united on the same NFL team or if Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani were on the same MLB roster (on second thought…).
The same could be said if James went to the 76ers — who also reached out to the Lakers to explore trade possibilities, per ESPN — to pair up with 2022-23 MVP Joel Embiid.
Another possibility is James might wait to see if his oldest son, Bronny, declares for the NBA draft in the upcoming months, and if so, where he ends up. LeBron has said he will remain in the NBA until Bronny enters the league and he can share the floor with him. Bronny had a delayed start to his freshman season at USC after experiencing a cardiac episode over the summer, and he is currently averaging 5.8 points (35.6 percent shooting), 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 20.9 minutes per game.
NBA correspondent Marc Stein noted in his Substack this week that he is aware of at least two teams who would be willing to take the risk of drafting Bronny with the hope they can land LeBron.
“I know of at least two teams on the NBA map that believe LeBron James would consider signing with them at far less than $51.4 million if Bronny James is on the roster,” he wrote. “There might be more.”
If James, who has continued to put up All-Star numbers at the age of 39, doesn’t like what he sees from the Lakers in the offseason (when the team will have three future first-round picks available to use in trades), he may look for a final change of scenery to close his career.
A shooting at the parade
A mass shooting turned the Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade from a celebration to a scene of terror and tragedy Wednesday in Kansas City.
Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a mother of two and diehard Chiefs fan, was killed and 22 were injured, including nine children. Three suspects were in custody; citizens heroically assisted in taking down the gunmen.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid reportedly stepped in to comfort parade-goers in the emotional aftermath of the shooting. Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce offered their condolences.
You can read more about the deadly Super Bowl parade here.
Today’s back page
A Bell tolls for Gotham FC
The lion’s share of the attention on Gotham FC’s offseason has been devoted to the defending NWSL champions’ marquee free-agent additions.
But the would-be superteam also is bringing aboard a first-round draft pick in defender Maycee Bell.
On Wednesday, Gotham officially signed Bell, the No. 14 overall pick out of the University of North Carolina, to a three-year contract.
“I’m just gonna try to fulfill any roles that [head coach] Juan [Carlos Amorós] and the team needs me to do,” Bell said Wednesday over Zoom. “I’m just going to learn. Take this time to learn. I think how I play, how I have pace, I’m tall, and how I can get balls out of the air, I just think that is going to help overall.”
In Bell’s redshirt senior season with the Tar Heels, the Kansas native started all 20 of her appearances and led the team’s back line in limiting opponents to just 7.4 shots per game.
“Maycee has integrated into our team and style of play very well this preseason,” Amorós said in Gotham FC’s press release. “She is a strong player and has shown great professionalism in her short time with the club.”
Bell and Gotham will continue the competitive portion of their preseason when they depart for The Women’s Cup in Cali, Colombia, which takes place from Feb. 27 to March 2.
Gotham opens its NWSL campaign March 15 against San Diego Wave, last season’s first-place finishers, in the one-off Challenge Cup at Red Bull Arena.
Record chase of the day
When you’re hot, you’re hot
The Knicks’ recent nine-game winning streak — they now have lost five of six since — is what passes for a heater around here. But there are plenty of other teams across sports that are on more sustained hot streaks and have been lost in the shuffle.
Cleveland Cavaliers: The Knicks’ overwhelmed first-round playoff opponents last season are 18-2 in their last 20 games to climb to second place in the Eastern Conference and own the NBA’s best net rating since Jan. 1, which has helped catapult Donovan Mitchell into the MVP conversation.
Edmonton Oilers: They are 26-5-0 in their past 31 matches. An eight-game winning streak that began after Thanksgiving quickly led to a 16-game string that ended last week. The success has come under former Rangers minor league coach Kris Knoblauch, who was hired on Nov. 12 to replace Jay Woodcroft after the Oilers opened 3-9-1. Of course, it’s a little easier to put wins on the board when you have the consensus best player in the world in Connor McDavid, who has tallied 46 assists and 15 goals — two of which were game-winners — during the 31-game stretch.
South Carolina women’s basketball: The Gamecocks are 23-0, having won all but three games by double digits. They have the No. 1 defense and No. 3 offense in the country. South Carolina will work to hold on to the undefeated record longer than in 2023, when a perfect season was ruined by Caitlin Clark’s Iowa in the Final Four.
Bayer Leverkusen: The German soccer club is undefeated across 31 matches this season, including a 17-0-4 in league play that puts them in position to end juggernaut Bayern Munich’s run of 11 straight Bundesliga titles. Last weekend, Bayer Leverkusen took down the defending champions in a 3-0 win that gave them a five-point lead at the top of the table.
Penn State wrestling: Here’s something different. The Nittany Lions, coached by former Olympic gold medalist Cael Sanderson, have dominated this season, sitting at an undefeated 10-0. They most recently defeated Rutgers with a resounding 35-3 dual-meet victory. The roster that has the top-ranked wrestler in five of the 10 weight classes. Penn State’s success is nothing new for a program that holds 11 NCAA wrestling championships.
Naomi Osaka’s comeback continues
Naomi Osaka is making strides toward regaining her all-world form this week in Qatar after falling last month in the first round of the Australian Open.
The two-time US Open and two-time Australian Open champion has made it to the quarterfinals in a WTA tournament for the first time in nearly two years (since the 2022 Miami Open). Osaka advanced Wednesday when Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko withdrew from the Round of 16 due to an elbow injury.
Osaka, 26, took nearly 15 months off from the sport for mental health reasons and for the birth of her daughter, Shai.
The encouraging results in Doha began with a 7-5, 6-4 win over France’s Caroline Garcia, who had eliminated Osaka from the year’s first major. Then Osaka took down Croatia’s Petra Martic, 6-3, 7-6 (9), striking 39 winners to Martic’s 17.
She will face another former world No. 1 in Karolina Pliskova on Thursday for a spot in the semifinals.
What we’re reading 👀
⚾ Yankees manager Aaron Boone, in his first public remarks of spring training, was adamant about his expectations for 2024 coming off a disastrous season in The Bronx. “We’re hellbent on being a champion,” Boone said.
⚾ To realize that championship vision, the Yankees’ need their youngsters to step up, writes The Post’s Joel Sherman.
🏀 The Nets lost to the Celtics in Boston by 50 points — 50! — and head into the All-Star break without an answer in sight.
⚾ Don Gullett, a World Series-winning lefty with the Reds and Yankees, has died. He was 73.
⚾ Mets great Lenny Dykstra was hospitalized after suffering a stroke.
⚾ Kodai Senga goes into this season, his second in MLB, as the Mets ace. How is he handling that mantle?
⛳ Checking in on Tiger Woods, back at the tournament where he was in a calamitous car crash three years ago.
🏒 The Rangers’ efforts to resuscitate their struggling power play are, shall we say, ongoing.
🏀 The Pistons’ Isaiah Stewart was arrested for punching the Suns’ Drew Eubanks in a hallway before their game (just a citation, but still!).
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