Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James. Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Columnist: Newly-extended LeBron James 'seemingly runs' Lakers

By Eduardo Solano | Last updated 8/19/22

LeBron James drew media criticism for his new contract extension, which could hamstring the Lakers' efforts to build a championship team.

"This extension does undoubtedly prove that James shares one trait with previous Lakers stars. James seemingly runs the team,” Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times wrote.

In a tweet, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps shared a similar opinion: “This takes a big potential way for the Lakers to re-tool – him taking less money, like (Philadelphia's James) Harden did this summer – off the board.”

On Wednesday, James signed an extension worth $97.1M over two years to his current contract with the Lakers, The second year (2024-25) is a player option.

As noted by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, James surpassed Kevin Durant as the highest-earning player in NBA history. James now has $532M in guaranteed money.

James has averaged 27.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists over 1,366 career games with the Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers. The 37-year-old has won NBA championships with those three teams.

10 minutes of LeBron James highlights from the 2021-22 season. Enjoy. pic.twitter.com/gk9neFyWDs
— NBA UK (@NBAUK) August 12, 2022

Will James stay healthy next year?

A four-time NBA MVP, James averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists over 56 games last season. However, the Lakers lost 49 games and missed the playoffs.

James has been hurt more often in recent years, though he plays at a high level every season. He has missed 84 regular-season games since joining the Lakers in 2018. James has averaged 27 points, 8.2 assists and eight rebounds in 35.2 minutes over 223 games with the Lakers.

The Lakers expect new head coach Darvin Ham, a healthy Anthony Davis and younger role players to help James take them back to the playoffs. But if they can't add pieces because of James' contract, it's hard to see how they could challenge defending Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors and rising teams such as the Dallas Mavericks.

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