LeBron James had one simple reason to leave the Lakers

After a rollercoaster eight-year tenure, LeBron James is leaving the Los Angeles Lakers.

With James at the helm, the Lakers oscillated between title contention -- and even won one in 2020 -- and borderline playoff hopes, also missing the postseason.

General manager Rob Pelinka struggled to field a competitive team, and now that Luka Doncic is in town, the writing was on the wall.

However, it wasn't only the transition to the Doncic era that pushed LeBron out the door. According to ESPN insider Shams Charania, he had simply lost faith in the organization.

LeBron James and the Lakers didn't see eye-to-eye

“The bottom line is LeBron James and the Lakers just simply didn’t see eye to eye on what it meant to try to compete for a championship. Essentially, to try to compete at the highest levels,” Charania said on SportsCenter. “LeBron James makes the decision six hours before the start of free agency to let the Lakers know that he is moving on.”

James and Anthony Davis pushed the Lakers to trade for Russell Westbrook, a move that essentially forced them to break up the championship core.

From there, the Lakers failed to make another deep postseason run with a championship-caliber squad, even after swapping Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic.

James and his camp had already put the Lakers on notice about building a competitive team. As such, he's looking for a big chance to win another title before calling it a day.

“Sources close to LeBron tell me that his priorities are very clear with his next home. He wants to compete for a championship. He wants to play meaningful basketball. Last summer, when LeBron opted in, I remember his agent, Rich Paul, gave me a statement where they challenged the Lakers’ desires to win,” Charania added.

Rumors tie James to the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, and Steve Kerr's team will probably give him the better shot at tying Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan with five NBA championships.

Still, there's no need to make any rash moves, and he'll likely take his time before making a decision.