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DUBROVNIK, CROATIA – JUNE 13: Basketball Player and Team AlUla Co-Owner, Lebron James looks on in the E1 Owners Suite during the E1 Series Dubrovnik GP on June 13, 2026 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. (Photo by Joe Portlock\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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When it comes to NBA folks not named LeBron Raymone James Sr., this latest version of The Decision<\/a> is more about profit margins and balance sheets than picking and rolling. <\/p>\n How old is this guy again?<\/p>\n There is another thing regarding The Ageless Wonder who nevertheless hasn\u2019t been The Chosen One in years.<\/p>\n Think about James with the Los Angeles Lakers before he announced on June 30 he wishes to dribble elsewhere after previous stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers (twice) and the Miami Heat.<\/p>\n Now, without Googling: How many of those eight seasons did the LeBron Lakers lose in the first round of the playoffs or were a lottery team?<\/p>\n Nope, five.<\/p>\n Adam Silver couldn\u2019t care less as NBA commissioner, and the same goes for his bosses who are the owners. Their league dribbled last season toward a record $14.3<\/a> billion in gross revenue, according to Sportico.com. To hear Silver tell it, James is the primary catalyst for that and for helping the NBA prepare to fatten its wallet more next season after he chooses within the next few weeks, days or hours where he wishes to take his free agent talents. <\/p>\n The Golden State Warriors, the Miami Heat, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Those are the favorite landing spots for James, his chalk-dust routine and a 24th season in the NBA.<\/p>\n SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – JUNE 13: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Prince Harry look on during the third quarter in Game Five of the 2026 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks at Frost Bank Center on June 13, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n Silver just wants a decision for The Decision.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess all politics are local. The way I think about it is, we have to finish up the schedule,\u201d said Silver <\/a>this week at the CNBC Sport x Boardroom Game Plan Summit in New York, where he admitted the NBA can\u2019t decide who plays where and when in late 2026 and early 2027 until The Decision for the guy ranked fourth<\/a> at $137.8 million on the Forbes\u2019 list of the world\u2019s highest paid athletes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere LeBron plays will affect the schedule,\u201d Silver said. \u201cSo I would like him to make his announcement already, so we can finish the schedule, because, as you might imagine, the teams are calling us, the networks are calling us, and everybody wants to lock in the schedule. <\/p>\n \u201cBut it will influence how we set the schedule, how we set opening week, Christmas Day, etc. <\/p>\n \u201cSo I need him to make a decision.”<\/p>\n For one, the NBA has TV folks to satisfy. <\/p>\n In July 2024, Silver and the league\u2019s other officials signed an 11-year deal for media rights worth $76 billion dollars<\/a>, and LeBron\u2019s fingerprints were figuratively all over the paperwork.<\/p>\n Up next for everybody? The Decision, and let\u2019s start with the Warriors, ranked first on the Forbes\u2019 list for most valuable NBA teams<\/a> at $11 billion. <\/p>\n In Northern California, James would function as the other guy for the Warriors behind 38-year-old Stephen Curry and 36-year-old Draymond Green, a trio of future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers. They would have box-office appeal everywhere, but as the ultimate NBA senior citizens, they would go no further than the second round in the playoffs. <\/p>\n CLEVELAND, OHIO – JANUARY 28: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena on January 28, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers defeated the Lakers 129-99. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n Which would be slightly better than the team results if James returns to the Heat, ranked eighth at $5.7 billion on Forbes\u2019 list for most valuable NBA teams. Yes, the Heat acquired megastar Giannis Antetokounmpo, and they retained gifted Bam Adebayo, but that\u2019s about it for an otherwise shaky roster.<\/p>\n LeBron to the 76ers?<\/p>\n Interesting.<\/p>\n The 76ers are 10th on the Forbes\u2019 list for most valuable NBA team at $5.45 billion, and James would complement an already explosive starting lineup with Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, when Embiid isn\u2019t in street clothes for long stretches. <\/p>\n With James, the 76ers could stop \u201cTrusting the process\u201d to celebrate their first world championship since 1983 and Julius Erving.<\/p>\n Or they could become another 76ers bust.<\/p>\n That said, James keeps stressing \u201cfamily\u201d regarding The Decision. He\u2019s from Akron, which is 35 miles south of Cleveland, where he began his NBA career. He returned to northern Ohio after joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach for a couple of world championships. <\/p>\n Then, during Cavaliers Part II, James spent 2016 giving Cleveland its first world championship of any kind among professional sports leagues since the 1964 Cleveland Browns topped the NFL.<\/p>\n PHILADELPHIA, PA – JANUARY 10: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts after a dunk against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 10, 2016 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n The Cavs sound like \u201cfamily\u201d for James.<\/p>\n James would join perennial All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, but here\u2019s the question: Would that combination push the Cavaliers beyond the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost last season to the New York Knicks?<\/p>\n It\u2019s debatable — or even doubtful — since this isn\u2019t the LeBron of his Chosen One days of Cavaliers Part I or Part II.<\/p>\n See the LeBron Lakers.<\/p>\n The LeBron Lakers did capture the 2020 NBA championship, but that was with an asterisk. It came during \u201cthe bubble\u201d tournament<\/a> of the Pandemic.<\/p>\n As for those other two times the LeBron Lakers made the playoffs, they were swept in the 2023 Western Conference finals by the Denver Nuggets, and they were swept last season in the Western Conference semifinals by the Oklahoma City Thunder.<\/p>\n So much for the good old days for somebody who said in June<\/a> \u201cI\u2019m not taking nobody over me.\u201d He was referring to the GOAT debate over whether he\u2019s the Greatest Of All Time among the hoops likes of Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.<\/p>\n You can make the case James is peerless in NBA history. <\/p>\n