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By Matthew Couden
Contributing Writer
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LeBron James may have played his final moments for the Los Angeles Lakers during the team's Game 4 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Playoffs.
The multi-time NBA MVP, All-Star, and four-time champion was the team's driving force in their first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets, but without Luka Doncic on the court, the Lakers couldn't get past Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder. And with that, it immediately brought questions about the Lakers' situation with LeBron for next season.
Speculation had been ongoing throughout the season and after the playoff exit about LeBron either retiring or going to another NBA team to finish out his legendary career.
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On Friday evening, the Kalshi prediction market showed King James' chances of either returning to play for the Lakers or retiring had dropped below 50%, a surprising shift in the market. Meanwhile, his odds of going back to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team he started his career with, and returned to win a championship with, moved up to over 30%.
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The odds shift occurred following a report via ESPN's Shams Charania on Friday morning that the Lakers had yet to make an offer to LeBron to return next season. However, they recently signed guard Austin Reaves to a four-year, $185 million maximum contract to lock him up as a member of the roster.
That would seem to indicate that Los Angeles isn't interested in paying too much to keep James around, or is uninterested in him returning, as he's not part of this franchise's plans.
There's also the strong possibility that LeBron wants to play his farewell tour with his original team in Cleveland. He joined the Cavaliers as the heralded next superstar in 2003 and immediately began to show he was that type of player, leading the team to the NBA Finals in 2007, where they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs.
After leaving in 2010 to win several championships with Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and the Miami Heat, LeBron ultimately made his way back to Cleveland in 2014. He teamed up with guard Kyrie Irving and fellow All-Star Kevin Love to win a championship for the team that first drafted him.
In 2018, he joined the Lakers, where he won a fourth championship with fellow All-Star Anthony Davis during the well-known 2020 NBA Bubble.
LeBron has admirably spent the past eight seasons with the Lakers, still playing at a high level for a 41-year-old in the NBA, averaging 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds in 33.2 minutes per game.
However, it now makes plenty of sense to return to where it all started, so he can officially write the goodbye chapter in his legendary story as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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