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Topics: Lebron James, Basketball, NBA
Nasir Jabbar
LeBron James once 'seriously considered' accepting a shock contact offer that would have changed the course of NBA, with his future at the Los Angeles Lakers in major doubt.
James joined the Lakers following his second spell with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He has spent five seasons with the California-based franchise, winning one NBA championship with the team.
But a sensational move away from the Lakers has been mooted.
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Fans and critics alike expected him to spend the final years of his legendary career with the Lakers, especially since they made the decision to draft his son, Bronny James, in the second round of the NBA Draft last year.
The Lakers have made their feelings clear on the future of Bronny if his father leaves.
James' Lakers future has been thrown into doubt amid the side building for the future, having not won the NBA championship since 2020.
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The Dallas Mavericks have emerged as a potential suitor for the four-time NBA champion.
Following the departure of Luca Doncic, the Mavericks are in need of a superstar player to lead their team in the new season, with James fitting the bill.
ESPN's Dave McMenamin has reported, however, that the Mavericks - who failed to progress beyond the play-in tournament last season - would only be interested in signing the 40-year-old if the Lakers were to buy out his current mega-money contract.
It's not the first James has been the subject of contract offers as he turned down two NFL deal during the 2011 NBA lockout.
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In 2011, when the NBA experienced a 161-day lockout from July into December that delayed the 2011/12 regular season, James was offered contracts to join the NFL, with the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks each tabling a deal.
"That’s true. [Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones offered me a contract. Also [Seahawks coach] Pete Carroll did as well in Seattle during our lockout time," he revealed in 2021.
"It definitely got my blood flowing again, and got my mind racing again, thinking about the game of football - you know, being out there on Sundays... I still got the jersey too that Jerry and Pete Carroll sent me from 2011."
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What's more, James 'seriously considered' the NFL offers amid the NBA lockout.
"The only time I've really taken it super-duper seriously was in 2011 when we had the NBA lockout," he explained. "And I didn't know when we were going to make the deal with the owners and get our league back going, so I actually thought about it a little bit back then.
"I was still young enough to get out there with y'all, but that's the only time I've actually seriously considered it."
James, who played American football at high school, rejected the NFL contracts and stayed put in the NBA.