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USA Today
*The NBA offseason is cooling down, but the takes at OTG aren't. This month, we are hitting you with the Hot Take Marathon. Check back every day for a spicy NBA take!*
Kevin Love recently said that it seems like LeBron James is playing chess while everyone else in playing checkers. I’d agree with that, and I bet that James has a master plan for how the next decade or so of his life will play out. My hot take is a slow, smoldering burn, like some good Thai food, trying to read James’ mind and follow out that master plan, #Bron’s plan, for the next decade.
The start of the plan was already initiated this offseason when James left Cleveland to join the Los Angeles Lakers. James will play out his four-year deal with the Lakers, returning the franchise back to relevancy, and perhaps even championship contention, while simultaneously expanding his off-court influence. Already famous enough to regularly garner presidential attention and play a key supporting role in a major Hollywood film, James’ time in LA should feature more Hollywood exposure if half the rumors surrounding him and films are true (Space Jam 2 please!).
Following his four-year deal with the Lakers, James will then play on a one year deal either in LA or back in Cleveland before joining whichever team drafts his son, LeBron James Jr., controlling his destiny as a player one last time and fulfilling a long stated goal of becoming the first father son duo to share he court in the NBA.
Cavsnation.com
After that season playing with his son, James will retire at the age of 40, with his legacy of on-court production being nearly matched by his influence off the court, which will only have grown during his time in LA. With that legacy will come a financial status greater than any athlete has achieved, as the wild sum LeBron already gets from Nike will eventually be matched by Hollywood royalties and more successful investments like Blaze Pizza, making James the undisputed GOAT over Michael Jordan in at least one category.
With all that money in hand, James will do what he does best and live out his dream while playing the hero to a beleaguered fan base, and once again he’ll be following Jordan’s footsteps. Instead of rescuing his hometown team or bringing the downtrodden Lakers back to life like he did in his playing days, James will instead revive basketball in Seattle by purchasing an NBA franchise, or the rights to an expansion team, and moving that team to the former home of the Supersonics.
A team owned by James, or at least an ownership group led by him, would immediately make a Seattle franchise relevant and ease the league’s re-acclimation into the city it abandoned. It would be a fitting final basketball stop for James, one last crowning achievement of a goal that is unachievable for just about everyone else in the world. James wants to be in control and has voiced a desire to own a team after his playing days, and his actions on and off the court show he wants to be idolized; what better way to do both after his playing career than by bringing the NBA back to Seattle.