Stephen A. Smith has made a big claim about LeBron James leaving the LA Lakers to potentially win the title on another team.
The 40-year-old took the player option on his LA Lakers contract, which led many to believe that he could be leaving the team.
He was linked to teams like the Dallas Mavericks and even other Eastern Conference sides, but the four-time champion seems likely to finish the 2025-26 season as a Laker.
However, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith has stated that it would only make sense for LeBron James to move to another team as he would have a better chance of winning a championship there.
James won his only championship with the Lakers in 2020 and since then things have not gone well for him and the team in the playoffs.
His agent Rich Paul made a statement to announce his opt in and stated there that the 21-time All-Star wanted to continue competing for a championship while he was still playing.
While the Lakers have made good moves, Smith revealed joining the Cleveland Cavaliers would give James a better chance to win it all.
He said: “It has got to a point where I think it warrants you bro, why don’t you just come back to Cleveland to end your career?
“This cannot be disputed. He’d have a better chance of winning the championship in Cleveland.
“The road through the Western Conference is arduous, to say the least. In the Eastern Conference, New York’s got a new coach questions about their depth. Damian Lillard is no longer in Milwaukee. He’s back in Portland. So what help do you have with Giannis?
“Jayson Tatum is out for the year with an Achilles tear… Haliburton is out for the year.”
With four championships, James is already one of the best players the league has ever seen, but winning another title would put him in a tier with players like Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.
“You bring the chip back to Cleveland, and you say goodbye, tying five time champion Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and the crew.
“That ain’t happening if you stay in LA cause you ain’t coming out of the West,” Smith added.
James is arguably one of the best players in the Cavaliers franchise history as he led them to their only championship in 2016.
A finish in Cleveland would be the perfect farewell for King James, but a lot of things would have to fall into place for that.
The Cavs would have to give up a lot of their assets to get what could be the final year of his career.
This would block their development by a few years and does not seem like a move their front office would make.
They would be more than happy to welcome him to the team as a free agent, which can only happen next year, unless he agrees to a contract buyout with the Lakers, but that is unlikely to happen.
