Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) stands on the court in the third quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena on Jan 28, 2026.
Los Angeles Lakers veteran LeBron James returned home for a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
The Cavaliers drafted James with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, and James spent 11 seasons with the franchise. He helped the Cavaliers win its first and only NBA championship in franchise history in 2016 after returning to Cleveland from the Miami Heat in 2014.
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In between stints with the Cavaliers, James won two NBA championships with the Heat. But when he became an unrestricted free agent after the 2013-14 season, he returned home to Ohio to play with the Cavaliers.
James is set to become an unrestricted free agent again this summer. He exercised his $52.6 million player option with the Lakers for this season but did not sign a contract extension. As the Lakers begin to build a future around superstar Luka Doncic, it seems there may no longer be space for James on the team.
Guard Austin Reaves is also set to become a free agent and will command a high-paying contract in the offseason. It will be difficult for the Lakers to re-sign both Reaves, who is a 27-year-old rising star, and James, a veteran nearing retirement.
If James decides to sign with another team, the Cavaliers are repo rtedly open to welcoming back the four-time NBA champion for potentially the final season of his NBA career.
"His future in Los Angeles remains uncertain, with his contract set to expire at the end of the campaign and the franchise set to move forward with Luka Doncic as its star of the present and the future," McMenamin wrote. "Multiple team and league sources told ESPN the Cavaliers would gladly welcome James back this summer if he wanted to return to Cleveland for his 24th NBA season and third stint with the team."
Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
In the first quarter of the Lakers' game against the Cavaliers on Wednesday, Cleveland played a tribute video for James during a timeout. The video showed James scoring 25 consecutive points during Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals to defeat the Detroit Pistons.
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James was spotted tearing up at the tribute.
The Cavaliers have honored James in the past with tribute videos from Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals or from the 2003 NBA Draft. But with James getting so close to the end of his career, the tribute videos from his early career are even more special.
Photo Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
The post LeBron James' Former Team Says They Would 'Gladly Welcome" Him Back Next Seaso n appeared first on LA Sports Report.
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