He told the Lakers, July 5 -- When Rich Paul picked up the phone to call the Los Angeles Lakers at the start of free agency, he'd planned on making that call eventually. Six months earlier, he told people he was 80 percent sure his client was staying. Then everything that could go wrong in Los Angeles did.

LeBron James is leaving.

Four years after winning a championship in the NBA bubble, eight years after arriving as the franchise's savior, LeBron James, the league's all-time leading scorer and a man who turns 42 in December, informed the Lakers the partnership was over. "No, THANK YOU!" he posted on X responding to a gracious farewell from governor Jeanie Buss. "Truly a honor to wear the purple and gold while trying to continuing the ...