Lakers Rumors: League Experts Believe LeBron James Could Leave LA In 2024

Lakers forward LeBron James enters his 20th season with experts believing James could leave the team before his career is over.

To play at an elite level like the NBA requires hard work, dedication, a little bit of luck and passion that most people are not able to achieve in their entire lifetime. Imagine doing that for 20 seasons, and you get the Lakers future first ballot Hall-of-Fame forward LeBron James.  

James played out of his mind this past season and had a renaissance scoring season with a career best 30.3 points per game last season. James continues to break records, but his time in Los Angeles could be coming to an end sooner than we'd hope for according to NBA expert Marc Stein (quotes via The Stein Line).

"The prevailing thinking in league circles holds that only the chance to play elsewhere alongside son Bronny James, who will be eligible for the 2024 draft and continues to develop as an NBA prospect, would spur LeBron to push for an L.A. exit."

James has made it clear that he wants to play until his son Bronny James makes the league. Bronny's first eligibility to enter the draft would be LeBron's 24th season. 

Many NBA athletes at this stage of their career take a steep tumble, but James continues to elevate his game. In fact, James has the highest career points per game average ever for someone in an age-37 season or older with 29.8 points per game (via The Ringer).

The next closest athlete is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who averaged 23.4 points per game at age 38. Undoubtably, James has set a pinnacle of greatness over decades that will be extremely hard, and arguably impossible, to ever pass up again.