NEW YORK — Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he profited from rigged poker games and provided sports bettors with non-public information about injuries to stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Jones, a onetime teammate of James, said little during back-to-back arraignments in federal court in Brooklyn, letting his court-appointed lawyer enter not guilty pleas in a pair of cases stemming from last month’s federal takedown of sprawling gambling operations.
Jones, 49, acknowledged he read both indictments and that he understood the charges and his bail conditions, which include his mother and stepfather putting up their Texas home as collateral for a $200,000 bond that will allow him to remain free pending trial.
Jones’ lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery, told a judge that they “may be engaging in plea negotiations.” He is due back in court for a preliminary conference with other defendants on Nov. 24.
Jones was among more than 30 people arrested in the gambling sweep. The others included reputed mobsters and prominent basketball figures, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
Sports bettor Marves Fairley also pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges alleging he cashed in on information about injuries to NBA players, including some that prosecutors say Jones provided to him.
Jones, an NBA journeyman, earned more than $20 million playing for 10 teams in 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009. He and James played together in Cleveland from 2005 to 2008 and he served as an unofficial assistant coach for James’ Lakers during the 2022-2023 season.
According to prosecutors, Jones sold or attempted to sell non-public information to bettors that James was injured and wouldn’t be playing in a Feb. 9, 2023, game against the Milwaukee Bucks, texting an unnamed co-conspirator: “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out.”
James wasn’t listed on the Lakers’ injury report at the time of the text message, but the NBA’s all-time scoring leader was later ruled out of the game because of a lower body jury, according to prosecutors, and the Lakers lost the game 115-106.
On Jan. 15, 2024, prosecutors said, Fairley paid Jones approximately $2,500 for a tip that Davis, the Lakers’ forward and center at the time, would see limited playing time against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of an injury.
Fairley then placed a $100,000 bet on the Thunder to win, prosecutors said, but the tip was wrong. Davis played his usual minutes, scored 27 points and collected 15 rebounds in a 112-105 Lakers win, prompting Fairley to demand a refund of his $2,500 fee, prosecutors said.
Jones, a native of Galveston, Texas, who played college basketball at the University of Houston, is charged in both cases with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. As part of his bail agreement, his travel is restricted to parts of Texas and New York City. He was allowed to keep his passport to use as identification for flying until he obtains a REAL ID, which his lawyer said should happen soon.
A hot hand from outside the three-point arc, Jones once proclaimed himself in an interview with Insidehoops.com as “the best shooter in the world.” He played in every regular season game for three consecutive seasons from 2003 to 2006.
After his playing days, he worked as a “shooting consultant” for the Cavaliers and was an assistant coach when the team, led by James, won the NBA championship in 2016.
In the poker scheme, according to prosecutors, Jones was among former NBA players used to lure unwitting players into poker games that were rigged using altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table.
According to the indictment, Jones was paid $2,500 for a game in the Hamptons where he was instructed to cheat by paying close attention to others involved in the scheme. His instructor likened those people to James and NBA All-Star Stephen Curry, prosecutors said. When in doubt, Jones was told to fold his hand, prosecutors said.
In response, according to prosecutors, Jones texted: “y’all know I know what I’m doing!!”
The poker scheme often made use of illegal poker games run by New York crime families that required them to share a portion of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonnano crime families, according to prosecutors.
Members of those families, in turn, also helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success of the operation, officials said in court documents.
Norwalk resident Andrew Garcia filed Monday with Los Angeles County Superior Court to dismiss without prejudice a claim he had filed earlier this month seeking to recoup his money after a big announcement teased by James on social media ended up having nothing to do with his NBA career, now going into its 23rd season, coming to an end.
Garcia said Monday he decided to drop the case after he accepted an offer from the PrizePicks fantasy sports app. The company has deposited promo funds in the amount of $865.66 — the full amount Garcia spent on two tickets to the Lakers’ game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 31, 2026 — into Garcia’s PrizePicks account, according to documentation viewed by The Times.
Garcia said will be able to cash out any winnings he receives off those transactions. In addition, he said, PrizePicks will be giving him tickets to a Lakers game of his choice and some other merchandise.
“I didn’t have to dismiss the case” in order to receive the deal from PrizePicks, Garcia said, “but I chose to, because I was like, you know, you guys are fully compensating me for my loss, and then some. There’s no reason for me to further pursue this, because then it would look like I’m double-dipping, you know?”
PrizePicks vice president of communications Elisa Richardson confirmed the deal in an email to The Times.
“We reached out to Andrew after seeing the news and finding out he was a PrizePicks player,” Richardson wrote. “We’re always looking for ways to surprise and delight our players.”
On Oct. 6, James posted on social media that he would announce “the decision of all decisions” the next day. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer also included a video clip teasing “The Second Decision,” a reference to 2010’s “The Decision,” in which James famously announced his intention to play for the Miami Heat.
Garcia wasn’t the only person who thought a retirement announcement was imminent — and he also wasn’t the only one who wanted to be sure to see James on his farewell tour. According to Victory Live, which analyzes verified ticket resale data across the secondary market, ticket sales for Lakers games jumped 25 times higher after James’ teaser post and the average price for those tickets increased from $280 to $399.
Ticket sales and prices returned to normal soon after it was revealed that “The Second Decision” was nothing more than a Hennessy ad. In his lawsuit, Garcia claimed James owed him the amount paid for the tickets because of “fraud, deception, misrepresentation, and any and all basis of legal recovery.”
Hi, everyone, welcome back to Lakers newsletter. This is Thuc Nhi Nguyen, The Times’ Lakers beat writer. Thank you for your warm welcome into this space (and your food recommendations). We’re now halfway through the preseason, and let me tell you: I can’t wait until we get real basketball back again.
All things Lakers, all the time.
We are at least one step closer to seeing what this Lakers team really looks like as Luka Doncic is expected to make his preseason debut against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. He is expected to play in two of the final three preseason games and, with a back-to-back coming, it’s most likely that Doncic will finish his preseason play on Friday at Crypto.com Arena against the Sacramento Kings instead of in Las Vegas against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, on Wednesday.
Doncic’s return can help answer some questions about the Lakers, but there is still plenty to address with one week until the season opener.
The LeBron James decision
If you didn’t hear, LeBron James was at the center of a major announcement last week.
No, it’s not that the Lakers star and my dad share an affinity for Hennessy.
It’s that James will be sidelined for three to four weeks as he manages sciatica in his right side. The timeline announced by the team last Thursday means James will miss the regular season opener on Oct. 21 against the Golden State Warriors. As he enters Year 23, James still has room for more firsts: This will be the first time in his NBA career that he doesn’t play in a season opener.
While coach JJ Redick has tried to downplay preseason decisions about the starting lineup, he admitted Monday that James’ prolonged absence “complicates things a little bit.” With every group, Redick said, it’s about finding balance: ensuring there’s enough shooting, facilitating and defense to go around while also managing each player’s own temperament.
“We have a week to figure that out,” Redick said Monday, “and I think it will reveal itself to us.”
The Lakers’ next decision
Marcus Smart
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
So who will be up for the role?
Marcus Smart, who figured to be a potential starting candidate even when James was healthy, will make his preseason debut on Tuesday. He was battling Achilles tendinopathy to begin the preseason.
Smart returned to practice last week, working up to being a full participant during practices Thursday and Saturday, and impressed Redick with the classic Marcus Smart hustle and defense. Even while sidelined, Smart was lauded for his communication and leadership style.
Smart was already considered as a potential starting option over returner Rui Hachimura because the Lakers were looking for a stronger defender at the point of attack. They may have rediscovered another option in Jarred Vanderbilt.
Finally healthy from a lingering foot injury, Vanderbilt has earned rave reviews for his defensive resurgence during training camp. The 6-foot-8 forward has 13 rebounds, four steals and one block in three preseason games. He even turned heads with tweaked shooting mechanics to potentially increase his influence as a potential three-and-D option.
But Vanderbilt is one for 10 from three-point range in three preseason games.
The offensive load during James’ absence will likely fall more toward Hachimura or free agent addition Jake LaRavia.
Second-year guard Dalton Knecht could provide a scoring punch off the bench, especially after Redick said Knecht was the team’s best offensive player in training camp. Knecht, who struggled during summer league because he over-trained during the offseason, was outscoring his teammates by 42 points during live practice periods by Sunday. Redick rewarded him with a starting spot in the home preseason game against the Warriors and he responded with 16 points on four-of-nine shooting from the field and was six of eight from the free throw line.
But the 24-year-old who was briefly traded last year to return only when the deal fell through needs to earn his playing time by showing other skills.
“His ceiling is going to be based on his improvement this season as a defender,” Redick said.
Austin Reaves has already carried the heaviest workload of the preseason, especially as Doncic and James were out. Reaves delivered with 41 points in 44 minutes in two games, but knows any single Herculean effort won’t be enough to replace James long-term.
“It’s a next-man-up mentality,” Reaves said, echoing a similar message from Doncic. “Nobody is going to fill what he does with one person. I can’t go be LeBron. I wish I could. But I think you got to do it as a collective group. And that’s what we’ll do.”
Favorite thing I ate this week
Clockwise from top left: Shrimp shumai, fried shrimp ball, baked BBQ pork bun, steam pork bun and shrimp noodle rolls.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
The Lakers got a valuable week at home, but I stayed on the road for a friend’s wedding in Brooklyn. To me, there’s no better way to celebrate than with dim sum.
We schlepped from Brooklyn to Manhattan’s Golden Unicorn, where I was too impatient to take a picture of everything, but the first wave included baked BBQ pork buns, steamed pork buns, shrimp noodle rolls, shrimp shumai and fried shrimp balls.
My dim sum staples are har gow and the classic pork and shrimp shumai, but my favorite dish this time was mango pudding (unfortunately not pictured). Loaded with chunks of fresh mango, it was the perfect sweet treat before I spent the next few hours in food coma mode.
Lakers star LeBron James will miss the first regular-season game as he continues to deal with a sciatica issue, the team announced Thursday afternoon. James will be reevaluated in three to four weeks.
The 40-year-old is entering an unprecedented 23rd NBA season. He had yet to practice with his teammates during training camp and he did not play in the Lakers’ first two preseason games.
Before the team’s announcement, coach JJ Redick told reporters at practice Thursday that “he’s on his own timeline.”
Added Redick, “You’ve got to play the cards you’re dealt. That’s a shame, but that’s just the reality. … No one has got any time with LeBron [James] hasn’t been on the court with the team, but that’s just the reality.”
While fellow star Luka Doncic has slowly been ramping up his conditioning following a busy summer that included playing for Slovenia in the EuroBasket tournament, Redick said he hopes that Doncic will play in at least one preseason game.
The Lakers have four more preseason games, the next on Sunday against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.
A fan who spent hundreds of dollars for tickets to what he thought would be one of LeBron James’ final NBA games is looking to recoup the money in small claims court after it turned out “The Second Deicision” teased by the Lakers superstar had nothing to do with his retirement.
Norwalk resident Andrew Garcia filed a claim Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court that states that James owes him $865.66 because of “fraud, deception, misrepresentation, and any and all basis of legal recovery.”
Garcia told The Times that he spent that amount for two tickets to the Lakers’ game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 31, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena , thinking it would be the 40-year-old NBA icon’s final game against the team that drafted him in 2003.
He and other basketball fans were under that impression after James posted Monday on X that he would be announcing “the decision of all decisions” the next day. The post included a video clip teasing “The Second Decision,” a clear reference to 2010’s “The Decision,” in which James famously announced he was going to “take my talents to South Beach” to play for the Miami Heat.
Garcia said he purchased the tickets within 10 minutes of James’ social media post.
“I was like, ‘Holy s—, LeBron is going to retire! We’ve got to get tickets now,’” the 29-year-old Garcia said. “Like, literally, because if he formally makes this announcement, you know, there’s gonna be some significant price changes, right?”
Garcia is a huge fan of the Lakers and James, as well as an avid basketball fan in general, so he thought it would be cool to see the NBA’s all-time leading scorer play for the last time against the team with which he started his career and brought its first title in 2016 after his return from Miami.
“Moments like that, I understand the value,” Garcia said. “There still may be some moderate value [to the tickets], however it’s not the same without him retiring. I remember Kobe’s last year, it was kind of what this would have been, per se, where every ticket was worth a lot. Every game had value. …
“I missed out on that. I was a little bit younger at the time. I obviously wasn’t in a position to where I could just buy tickets unfortunately at that age. I believe I was like 18 or 19 at the time. And that’s one of my biggest regrets as a sports fan. I really wish I could have gotten the Kobe’s last year. So I see this as a potential to kind of make up for what I lost with Kobe.”
But “The Second Decision” ended up having nothing to do with retirement. It was merely a Hennessy ad.
So now Garcia wants his money back.
“There is no circumstance absent him saying he’s gonna retire that I would have bought tickets that far in advance,” Garcia said. “I mean, I buy tickets, but I don’t buy tickets five months’ advance. I’m the kind of person that buys tickets five hours in advance. It was solely, solely, solely based on that. So that’s why I was really thinking, ‘You know what, this might be grounds for a case.’ ”
The Times reached out to an attorney said to be working with James related to the claim but did not receive an immediate response.
In light of everything that has happened this week, though, Garcia said he’d still be willing to pay the same amount of money to see James play during his eventual retirement tour.
“Of course,” Garcia said. “I would probably spend more, because life is all about memories and experiences.”
But before his 23rd season in the NBA, LeBron James heightened speculation about his future with a cryptic post on his social media channels that teased a “Second Decision”.
A video showed him sitting down across from another man on a basketball court, with the caption: “The decision of all decisions. October 7th. 12pm EST.” By Tuesday it had amassed more than 1.3 million ‘likes’ on Instagram.
Was James about to retire?
It appears not – at 15:31 BST on Tuesday he shared with his 158 million Instagram followers a video revealing “the Second Decision” as a promotion for a drinks brand.
The teaser video shared on Monday had echoed what became known as “The Decision” in 2010 – when in a televised announcement, from a gym, James revealed he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat.
James turns 41 in December and has already made plenty of history in the game.
In April 2025 his influence beyond sport was shown when he became the first professional male athlete to be honoured as a Ken doll by Barbie makers Mattel.
In the NBA, no other player has made it to a 23rd season.
Since being drafted first overall by hometown team the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, switching to the Heat in 2010 and then joining the Lakers in 2018, James has won four league titles and broken a host of records.
One record came after his son Bronny was drafted by the Lakers in 2024 and they became the first father-son duo to share the court in an NBA game.
Last week the 6ft 9in superstar insisted he was “excited about the opportunity to be able to play the game that I love for another season”.
“The thing still pushing me is the fact that my love for the game is still high,” he added.
Some suspected “The Second Decision” would not be a retirement announcement.
With a string of investments and off-court ventures in tow, many of those engaging with the teaser on Instagram and X predicted James would be making a promotional announcement for one such vehicle.
LeBron James did not participate in the Lakers’ first day of training camp Tuesday because of “nerve irritation in the glute.”
James’ teammates Marcus Smart, Gabe Vincent and Adou Thiero were “under either return to play protocols or modified protocols” during the team’s first sessions.
James is entering his NBA-record 23rd season and the goal is to ramp him up to be ready for the regular-season opener Oct. 21 against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.
“Yeah, I think it’s probably a little bit longer of a ramp-up leading into opening night for him just obviously in Year 23, it’s uncharted territory here,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “So, I felt, and in talking with performance and in talking with Mike (Mancias, James’ personal trainer) and LeBron, like probably did too much last year in camp, which was great for me as a first-year head coach to get buy-in from him.
“But it’ll be a slower process with him leading into the first game. He’s obviously got 22 years so far of wear and tear on the body and he’s dealing with a little bit of nerve irritation in the glute. So, we’re just playing the long game with LeBron.”
Redick said Vincent was “just modified” and the hope is that he’ll play in the preseason game Friday against the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert.
“He should be good to go live by the end of the week and we expect him to be able to play Friday,” Redick said. “And that’s just, again, the management of, as we did last year as well.”
Smart could be seen shooting after practice, but the Lakers are taking it slow with him as well.
“Marcus, he’s dealing with a little bit of Achilles’ tendinopathy,” Redick said. “He’s been in a slow ramp-up. He was a modified participant, nothing live today. He’s expected to be fine by the end of the week.”
Thiero said Monday that he still has some “swelling” in his left knee that kept him out playing in the summer league in Las Vegas and has slowed his time on the court since then.
Redick said Thiero was running, cutting and jumping with coaches, but that they will take it slow with him.
“It’s really about playing the long game with him,” Redick said. “We look at this year as a developmental year and there’s no reason for us to push his body and create a long-term problem. His knee is in a really good spot. We just want to be really careful.”
Redick said, “that’s the goal,” when asked if James will be ready to play in the season opener.
James, 40, has played 71,104 minutes over his career, including the playoffs.
“You’ll hear me use this a lot: it is unchartered territory,” Redick said. “I don’t think there’s a proven way to handle someone who has this much mileage, this many minutes, been asked to do so many things on both ends of the court. We asked a lot of him last year, we asked a lot of him to start the year in camp, so it’s just working as a partnership and trying to figure it out.”
Even with James not practicing, Austin Reaves said it won’t be a problem for the three leaders to find ways to make it smooth for their teammates.
Along with James and Luka Doncic, Reaves is viewed as one of the Lakers’ stars and he says James always is engaged even when he doesn’t practice.
“Yeah, just communication,” Reaves said. “To have good dialogue back and forth, what everybody likes, what we can do to be successful. With him being one of the highest IQ guys to ever play the game, I think it’s not that hard to piece it in even if he’s not out there right now, He sees the game just as good as anybody that has ever played the game. So, like I said, it’s having conversations, dialogue back and forth what we feel like we can do to help our team be successful is going to be, I think, key.”
Of all the reams of words publicly spilled at Lakers media day Monday, only one really mattered.
When LeBron James was wrapping up his interview with the folks at Spectrum Sportsnet, host Chris McGee asked, “By the way, see you at next year’s media day?”
James’ laughing answer set the template for a season.
“Maybe.”
So the Lakers should treat the next eight months emptying their assets and foregoing their future and playing with the desperation of a team trying to earn one last piece of jewelry for arguably the greatest player ever?
Maybe.
So should the fans here and around the league show up in droves and line up around the block for their last live look at a living legend?
Maybe.
Or, if everything goes wrong and things get ugly, should the Lakers and James willingly part ways through a midseason buyout?
Maybe.
No matter what happens, the fact that James didn’t reveal his intentions in his first public appearance since last spring means that this Laker season has the chance to be a murky maybe mess.
Everybody knows where the Lakers stand, as Rob Pelinka said last week. He wants James to finish his career here.
“We would love if LeBron’s story would be he retire a Laker,” Pelinka said. “That would be a positive story.”
But still nobody knows where James stands, and it’s not obvious, because, while he’s 40 and entering his NBA-record 23rd season, he looks young, and acts energetic, and Monday at the Lakers facility he was at his charming best.
“Just excited about the journey and whatever this year has in store for me,” he said.
He’s probably not saying because he truly does not know. Next spring is a lifetime away. He doesn’t know how he’s going to feel. He doesn’t know how his basketball future could look.
But because he’s not saying, this season could seemingly go one of three ways.
It could go the Kershaw Way. James could once again be one of the top players in the league but get worn down by the strain on his body and in the last weeks of the season he could call it quits. The Crypto.com crowd gets a chance to say goodbye and his Lakers teammates can use his retirement as inspiration for a deep postseason run.
Or, it could go the Kobe Way. James could decide in the middle of the season that he’s had enough and embark on a league-wide farewell tour, the sort that once brought the tough Kobe Bryant to tears.
Or, given the organization’s recent sketchy history, it is entirely possible it could go the Typical Lakers Implosion Way.
LeBron James jokes with reporters as he arrives for interviews at Lakers media day on Monday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
James could spend the year making the Lakers dangle on that “maybe,” subtly fighting against the loss of his team leadership to Luka Doncic, passively aggressively chiding Pelinka to improve the roster at the trade deadline, even occasionally threatening to quit on the spot.
Because it’s too tough to trade him and the Lakers don’t want to spend the bucks to buy him out, they spend the rest of the season dodging his barbs, then, simply let James’ contract expire and watch him flee to home Cleveland for his swan song.
Three scenarios, but only two happy endings, and to make matters even more complicated, much depends not on James, but on the roster around him.
Are the Lakers going to be any good? Are you ready for it?
Maybe.
The Lakers only played 23 games with both James and the recently acquired Doncic last season, and they were 15-8 and grabbed a third seed and were acting like the best team in the NBA at one point before they disintegrated against Minnesota in the playoffs.
They added Deandre Ayton for length, Jake LaRavia for defense, Marcus Smart for toughness, and a new body for Doncic, a formerly pudgy and breathless kid who has acknowledged his very adult transformation.
“I’m in a better place for sure,” he said Monday.
Is that good enough to lead a team to a better place in the competitive West? Who knows?
Will it be good enough to convince James to ask for a new contract and stick around for yet another year? That doesn’t seem likely but then again, The Oldest Living Baller currently exists in the unlikely.
The only certainty is that James is going to make this decision on his own time, in his own voice, through his own podcast or social media or heck, maybe another 30-minute TV special called, “The Last Decision?”
How ever this plays out, he’s not saying anything now, which was obvious when he answered the first question at his media day news conference with dodgy utterances.
“I mean, I don’t know,” he said. “I mean, I’m excited about today, I’m excited about an opportunity to be able to play a game that I love for another season. And whatever the journey, however the journey lays out this year, I’m just super invested, because … I don’t know when the end is, but I know it’s a lot sooner than later.”
He provided his most telling hint that he’s leaning into retirement when he talked about appreciating his final tours around the league.
“Knowing that the end is soon, not taking for granted, you know, a Tuesday night in a city that maybe I don’t want to be in that night … let’s lock in because you don’t know how many times you get the opportunity to play the game or to be able to compete,” he said. “So there’s times where you wake up and you just feel like you just don’t have it. So those will be the days where I know I can lock back in real fast, like, OK, well, you won’t have many days like this, so let’s lock in and enjoy the moment, enjoy the rest of the ride.”
Bronny and LeBron James pose for photos at Lakers media day as Rui Hachimura takes a selfie in front of them.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
He was asked if, now that he’s played with son Bronny, would he stick around to play with his Arizona-freshman son Bryce? His answer was LeBron at his fatherly best.
“No, I’m not waiting on Bryce,’ he said. “No. I don’t know what his timeline is. He’s his own young man now, like he’s down in Tucson. We’ll see what happens this year, next year, you know, but he has his own timeline. I got my timeline, and I don’t know if they quite match up.”
He was asked if his decision would be influenced by a chance to play with Doncic. His answer was LeBron at his jabbing best.
“Ah, nah. As far as how long I go in my career? Nah. Zero,” he said. “The motivation to be able to play alongside him every night, that’s super motivating. That’s what I’m going to train my body for. Every night I go out there and try to be the best player I can for him, and we’re going to bounce that off one another. But as far as me weighing in on him and some other teammates of how far I go in my career, nah.”
It may be Luka Doncic’s team, but it’s still LeBron James’ world, and he’s going to control his narrative down to the last syllables of the last sentences of his final goodbye.
LeBron James chuckled at the question he knew was coming as a a smile crossed his face when he was asked about the word “retirement.”
James stammered as he tried to answer the question during his session at the Lakers’ media day on Monday.
He never provided a definitive answer about his future. He’s about to enter his 23rd season in the NBA, which will mean James will have played more seasons in the league than anyone in history. He turns 41 on Dec. 30, but if last season was any indication, James hasn’t slowed down.
When James was asked about his approach to this season, knowing that retirement is near, he seemed unsure how to answer.
“I mean, I don’t know,” he said. “I mean, I’m excited about today, I’m excited about an opportunity to be able to play a game that I love for another season. And whatever the journey, however the journey lays out this year, I’m just super invested, because like you just said, I don’t know when the end is, but I know it’s a lot sooner than later.
“So just being super appreciative of the fact that I could come up here, do another media day and talk to you guys and do all this stuff around here, so just excited about the journey and whatever this year has in store for me.”
James exercised his player option for $52.6 milllion this summer to play with the Laker, the final year of his deal. He did not sign an extension with the Lakers, meaning that James will be a free agent after the 2025-26 season if he does not retire.
James already is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer during the regular season with 42,184 points. He has played the second-most regular-season games in history at 1,562, just 50 behind the leader, Robert Parish.
James averaged 24.4 points,7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists last season
It was clear that he still was on top of his game.
“The things that still pushes me is the fact that the love of the game is still high,” James said. “The love of the process is even higher. So that’s what continues to push me to play this game. I mean, it’s really that simple. Me training and working on my body and trying to get my body as close to 100% as possible every year, it’s something that’s like —- it’s a beautiful thing for me. Just continue to challenge to see how well I can push myself to play the game at a high level, recover at a high level, be able to sleep better, mentally prepare, try to stay sharp throughout the course of a long season. And just the roller coaster of an NBA season, that’s all like, gratifying to me, no matter the good, the bad, the ugly. I love that process. So it’s a bigger. … So much that goes into it, more than just picking up a basketball and shooting at the rim.”
James is teaming up with another superstar in Luka Doncic, who signed a three-year extension for $165-million.
Doncic, 26, is considered one of the top players in the league, giving James a top-notch running partner.
James was asked how much having a player like Doncic beside him will weigh in his decision to retire.
“Nah, nah. As far as how long I go in my career? Nah. Zero,” James said. “The motivation to be able to play alongside him every night, that’s super motivating. That’s what I’m going to train my body for. Every night I go out there and try to be the best player I can for him, and we’re going to bounce that off one another. But as far as me weighing in on him and some other teammates of how far I go in my career, nah. It would be, literally my decision, along with my wife and — two of my boys [Bronny and Bryce] already gone. … So it’ll be a decision between me, my wife [Savannah] and my daughter [Zhuri]. It won’t be, ‘Hey, having a meeting with my teammates.’ It won’t be that.”
James and Austin Reaves have been teammates for four years now, and Reaves has seen no decline in his famous teammate.
Reaves, who declined a four-year, $89.2-million contract offer from the Lakers over the summer, hasn’t talked to James about retirement but doesn’t see it happening any time soon.
“Every time you see him, he’s got a big smile on his face, he’s the biggest kid in the room, has a great time and you got to appreciate that for somebody who has been going at it for so long, 23 years,” Reaves said. “At some point you feel like the joy might not be there. But every time you see him, it reinsures that he’s here for one thing and one thing only and that’s to win. But I don’t know about retirement. He might play for another 10 years.”
James returns to a Lakers team that was 50-32 last season and finished third in the Western Conference. The Lakers then lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Minnnesota Timberwolves.
But the Lakers have retooled, adding center Deandre Ayton, guard Marcus Smart and wing Jake LaRavia.
James has won four NBA championships, and yearns for another.
“I don’t know, just to know how many miles I got as far as this game in my 22 years, now starting 23 years, and to still be able to play at a high level, to still to be able to go out there and can make plays and be respectful on the floor,” James said.
“It’s just super humbling and gratifying for me, personally. I love to play the game, and I love to play at a high level. And for me, age is kind of just a number, but it is reality too, though. I mean, you look at the history of the game, it’s not been many guys at my age, or especially going into Year 23 that’s been able to play at a level like that. And I’ve just tried to not take it for granted and just try to give the game as much as I can, inspire whoever I can: the younger generation, my generation, the generation after me, the generation to come. I think you are of the age what you, I guess, tell your mind you are.”
Near the conclusion of the news conference to address his contract extension with the Lakers, Luka Doncic detailed the training program that contributed to his striking weight loss.
When he was finished talking about how he lifted weight and refrained from playing basketball for a month, general manager Rob Pelinka made it a point to offer some thoughts.
“Luka’s done all the work,” Pelinka said, “but it’s important to have a support system around you to help you do the great work.”
Pelinka went on to praise Doncic’s trainer, Anze Macek, and physiotherapist, Javier Barrio. He remarked how Macek and Barrio have “worked seamlessly” with the Lakers’ staff. He name-checked Doncic’s agent, Bill Duffy, and business manager, Lara Beth Seager.
These weren’t garden-variety compliments.
This was a pledge of allegiance.
Shortly after Doncic was traded by the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers last season, stories emerged about tensions between his inner circle and former team.
Pelinka’s words contained an indirect message: We will support you the way Mavericks didn’t. This is your team.
The news conference ended with seven Lakers players and coach JJ Redick emerging from the back to take a picture with Doncic as he held up his jersey. A couple of the players, center Deandre Ayton and guard Marcus Smart, were personally recruited to the team by Doncic.
Doncic is now officially the center of the Lakers’ universe, and as inevitable as that seemed from the moment Pelinka acquired him, the dynamic intensifies a question that was initially raised last season: What does this mean for LeBron James?
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, left, and Luka Doncic hold up Doncic’s jersey during a news conference in El Segundo on Saturday.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Too much shouldn’t be made of James’ absence from the news conference on Saturday, as Austin Reaves wasn’t there either. However, James is under contract for just one more season and Doncic for at least three more, and how will James deal with not being the focal point of his franchise? James is a player who is used to exercising boundless influence over teams that employ him, enough to where the 17-time NBA champion Lakers drafted his undersized son.
While the Lakers once had visions of Anthony Davis replacing James as the face of their franchise, the imaginary baton was never passed. The Lakers didn’t make as big a deal of Davis’ extension two years ago as they did with Doncic’s on Saturday, for which a Doncic-themed photo gallery was erected for the news conference.
There’s an uneasy feeling about the situation, in large part because James hasn’t clearly communicated his thoughts. When James exercised his player option for the upcoming season, his agent said that because James wanted to play for championships and the Lakers were “building for the future,” their camp wanted “to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career.”
The 40-year-old James will have a say in what happens, as his deal includes a no-trade provision.
Asked how James viewed the Lakers’ summer and whether he thought James would retire with the team, Pelinka replied, “So all the interactions we’ve had with LeBron and his camp, [agent Rich Paul] in particular, have been positive and supportive. So very professional and Rich has been great. The dialogue with him has been open and constant.
“In terms of LeBron’s career, I think the number one thing we have to do there is respect he and his family’s decision in terms of how long he’s going to play. I think that’s first and foremost and we want to respect his ability to come up with his timetable on that. I think that’s really important, but if he had a chance to retire as a Laker, that would be great.”
In other words, there wasn’t enough clarity for Pelinka to be able to say with any degree of certainty, yes, he thought James would retire a Laker.
Doncic accepted an offer from the Lakers to be their next headliner. That was an important development for them. But for them to be able to properly showcase their next act, they will have to close their previous one, whether it’s by him accepting a supporting role or deciding to take his talents elsewhere.
A proposed international league described as the F1 of basketball gained attention over the weekend when Misko Raznatovic, the agent for Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, posted a photo on Instagram of him meeting in shorts and bare feet with LeBron James and the Lakers star’s business partner Maverick Carter on a yacht off the coast of the French Riviera.
Raznatovic accompanied the photo with an intriguing comment: “The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026! @kingjames@mavcarter
The post triggered speculation that perhaps James and Jokic could team up on either the Lakers or Nuggets, but more likely it suggests James has more than a peripheral interest in the new league.
Front Office Sports reported in January that Carter was advising a group of investors trying to raise $5 billion to jump-start the league but that James wasn’t involved. That may have changed.
So what’s the league about?
Early discussions are of a touring model with six men’s and six women’s teams playing in eight cities, none of which is likely to be in the United States. Investors include the Singapore government, SC Holdings, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, a Macau casino operator, UBS, Skype founder Geoff Prentice and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, according to the Financial Times. Reports have linked VC firm Quiet Capital, tech investor Byron Deeter and Hong Kong-based Galaxy Entertainment to the effort.
Investors are leaning toward not allowing players in the league unless they cut ties with the NBA, making the model somewhat like LIV Golf — the professional circuit funded by (PIF). A better comparison in terms of format and scale might be Formula 1 Racing, which holds 24 races a year across five continents.
Raznatovic’s involvement would be key. His Belgrade, Serbia, agency BeoBasket has a partnership with Excel Sports Management and represents dozens of top European players, including Clippers center Ivica Zubac.
The EuroLeague is currently recognized as the world’s second-best basketball circuit, but can’t come close to paying players NBA-level salaries.
If Raznatovic’s social media post is an indication, the new league could launch as soon as the fall of 2026. Until then, fans wanting an alternative to the NBA can check out Ice Cube’s tour-based Big3 basketball league, which makes its single stop in Los Angeles on Aug. 9.
The 40-year-old All-Star will report to Los Angeles Lakers’ training camp this preseason amid NBA trade rumours.
Despite an off season of rumours and speculation, LeBron James is expected to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2025-26 basketball season, The Athletic has reported.
The Lakers and James have not engaged in talks about a trade or buyout, and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer is expected to report to camp with the Lakers this autumn, per the report published on Wednesday. There haven’t been any signs, either, that James wants out.
James picked up his $52.6m option last month to return for an eighth season with the Lakers.
He will be returning to a team this time around on which, for the first time in his career, he is the second option. Luka Doncic, acquired in a stunning trade from the Dallas Mavericks in February, is expected to be the centrepiece for Los Angeles in the upcoming season.
Apparently fuelling the trade or buyout rumours is a statement made by James’s longtime agent, Rich Paul, last month that included this line, “We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career.”
Trading James, given his salary, would be difficult since NBA trades must be for players with contracts of similar value due to the salary cap.
The Lakers, according to The Athletic, also are reluctant to take on a player earning in the $50m range if he has additional years on the contract. The Lakers will be free of James’s $52.6m player option once his contract expires at the end of the upcoming season.
James, 40, is entering his record-setting 23rd NBA season. He has played in 1,562 regular-season games and is 50 shy of breaking Hall of Fame member Robert Parish’s NBA record.
James averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists in 70 games in 2024-25 to rank in the top 22 in each category. The Lakers forward also finished sixth in most valuable player (MVP) voting.
He is a 21-time All-Star, four-time league MVP and four-time NBA champion. He has scored a record 42,184 regular-season points, and 50,473 in the regular season and playoffs combined.
James entered the NBA as an 18-year-old after being selected number one in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He turns 41 in December.
LeBron James enters the 2025-26 season as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer [File: Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images]
LAS VEGAS — The crowd inside the Thomas & Mack Center began to stir a few seconds before the Lakers took the court, the buzz caused by LeBron James strolling into the arena to see his son play.
The elder James took a baseline seat as Bronny James and the rest of the Lakers took the court for warmups ahead of Saturday night’s NBA Summer League game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
There was a point early in the second half when LeBron James began to offer advice to Bronny — the kind of encouragement that helped Bronny put up a solid performance during the Lakers’ 94-81 win.
He had 14 points on five-for-11 shooting. He made one of four three-point attempts and also had three assists and two steals.
Bronny’s defense was solid as well.
“Yeah, we want him to play on the ball,” said Lindsey Harding, Lakers assistant coach and Summer League coach. “Especially in tight moments, I like the ball in his hands and I want him to make those decisions. You can go through as many drills as you want, but nothing beats live.
Lakers star LeBron James sits courtside during the team’s NBA Summer League game in Las Vegas on Saturday.
(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
“So even after this, he will sit with his coach and watch his reads. Some are great, some can be better. … But it comes with confidence and even this game, whether he made the shot or not, that’s not what it’s about. It’s about making the right read.”
A few possessions after Bronny got the crowd cheering by driving the length of the court and scoring on a left-handed layup, LeBron started instructing him.
“More. More. Get downhill more,” LeBron told him.
On his next play, Bronny did just that, driving in for a layup.
Early in the fourth quarter, Bronny drove baseline and threw a pass that was tipped out of bounds.
“Pull-up,” LeBron told him. “Going right, that’s a pull-up.”
When a pass was thrown ahead to Bronny in front of the Lakers’ bench in the fourth quarter, LeBron yelled, “Knock it down!”
Bronny did, drilling a three-pointer. He did this despite nursing a sore hip after falling hard to the court earlier in the quarter.
Having coached up his son enough, LeBron left with about five minutes remaining.
Late in the first quarter, Darius Bazley blocked a shot and took off down court.
“Go Baz,” LeBron James uttered. “Go Baz.”
And Bazley did, finishing with a dunk.
Bazley had a complete night, producing a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He also had five blocked shots.
“I guess I would show all my shows are on the defensive end,” Bazley said. “I’m trying to prove that I can switch one through five. I can be in the right spots, protect the rim, all that type of stuff. Offensively, just doing what’s asked — offensive rebounding. Like you said, being a screener, creating advantages for other guys.”
Even with a sore ankle that was taped after the game (Harding said he would be fine), Bazley left an impression.
“Bazley is an amazing defender,” Harding said. “He can guard on-ball. He can guard the point guard. He can guard the center. He does a great job off the ball. Sometimes defenders are great on-ball and not on-ball and vice versa, but he can do everything. He’s long. We need him for every position and they were huge blocks.”
Etc.
Dalton Knecht, who said he suffered cramps in both his legs during Thursday night’s game against the Mavericks, didn’t play Saturday.
Of course he would take the guaranteed money, more than anyone else in the league besides Brooklyn could give him.
Of course he would stay in Los Angeles, where son Bronny sits on the bench and his home sits on a hill and his myriad businesses are sitting pretty.
Of course, of course, of course … but …
Bronny James (9) leaves the court ahead of father LeBron after a win over Minnesota, during which they became the first father and son to play together in the NBA on Oct. 20, 2024.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Wait a minute. There was a catch.
For the first time since James arrived here seven years ago, there was no second or third or fourth year attached to his contract.
The Lakers didn’t offer him an extension. They refused to guarantee him a spot here after next spring.
For the first time in his Laker career — actually, the first time in his entire 23-year career — James will thus play this season on an expiring contract.
In NBA speak, that means two words.
Trade bait.
Except James has a no-trade clause, and it’s unimaginable he would agree to go to another team that would have to gut their roster to match his salary.
So for the first time, the wiley, elusive, flexible LeBron James is stuck.
He’s stuck on a team clearly catering to the needs of a different superstar in Luka Doncic.
He’s stuck on a team that might be viewing his contract not as an asset but an albatross.
He’s stuck on a team that might be looking to get rid of him but can’t.
He’s stuck on a team where he said he wants to end his career, but where that ending might eventually be out of his control.
He could perhaps free himself by thinking about Nov. 29, 2015.
That is the date that Kobe Bryant, a month into his 20th season, officially announced his retirement.
You remember it, right? What happened next was the most surprisingly delightful farewell season-long tour in the history of sports.
“I thought everybody hated me,” Bryant said at the time. “It’s really cool, man.”
Hate him? America loved him, and showed him that love in every NBA arena across the country, standing ovations from coast to coast as he cruised his way toward that stunning 60-point career finale.
The Lakers were generally terrible, the hobbled Bryant was mostly awful, but the nights were wholly magical, the stone-faced bad guy opening himself up to a national respect and admiration that he never knew existed. It was important that he saw this before he retired. It became infinitely more important that he saw this before he died.
LeBron James flexes for the crowd during a game against the Hornets.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
At the end of the tour I wrote, “… a final act that, in typical Kobe Bryant fashion, was unlike any other in the history of American sports. Opening up to a world he never trusted, becoming accessible and embraceable after years of stony intensity, Bryant used the last five months to flip the narrative on his life and career, erasing the darkness of a villain and crystallizing the glow of a hero.”
Bryant had said before the season that he would never do a farewell tour, that he didn’t want to be lauded like baseball fans lauded the prolonged retirement journey of the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter.
“We’re completely different people; I couldn’t do that,” he said.
Yet saddled with an expiring contract just like James, Bryant ultimately wanted to do something that James might consider, giving the organization a head start at rebuilding while controlling his own narrative.
Before Bryant’s decision could be leaked, he announced it himself in an open letter to basketball that was so touching it became an Oscar-winning film. He even arranged for a copy of the letter, sealed in an envelope embossed with gold, to be placed on the seat of every fan attending that night’s game at then-Staples Center against the Indiana Pacers.
Not exactly a T-shirt, huh? It was elegant, it was classy, it was perfect, just like the tour, initially criticized in this space as being selfish before your humbled correspondent finally realized that Bryant was right, it was really, really cool.
“It’s fun. I’ve been enjoying it,” Bryant said. “It’s been great to kind of go from city to city and say thank you to all the fans and be able to feel that in return.”
You hear that, LeBron?
This is not a call for James to retire, but a call for James to begin considering how that will happen, and how the classy Lakers would nail it if it happened here.
Lakers star LeBron James battles three-time MVP Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets for rebounding position during a playoff game in Denver.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Granted, the James and Bryant situations are not comparable. Even though James is 40, and Bryant was 37, James is still one of the league’s best players while Bryant was statistically one of its worst. And while James is still physically powerful, Bryant never fully recovered from his torn Achilles and was battered and broken.
James might have more gas in the tank while Bryant was clearly done.
But James himself has indicated that he probably has, at most, two years left. And every season his injuries become more insistent and debilitating.
And now that the Lakers are under new ownership with no ties to James, and now that current management has already given this team to Doncic, James doesn’t have much of a future here.
He has made noise about going back to Cleveland, and maybe after this season he’ll want to return to where his career started.
But if he’s even thinking about retirement after this year — a legitimate option for the first time — he shouldn’t wait to do so while walking off the court following an early-round loss by a mediocre Laker team.
Nobody does retirement tours like the Lakers. And nobody has ever done one like Kobe Bryant.
Decidedly in the twilight of his career, LeBron James can learn from both.
Little wonder the Portland Trail Blazers officially gave up on Ayton during the weekend by buying out his contract, opening the door for the Lakers to pick him up at a bargain price.
The Lakers are wagering they can do what the Trail Blazers, and the Phoenix Suns before them, couldn’t.
They are betting they can start the engine inside of Ayton and keep it roaring.
From a physical and technical standpoint, Ayton is capable of being the player the Lakers need him to be. However, most athletes who don’t already have something burning inside of them at 26 don’t suddenly discover fire at 27, which is how old Ayton will be later this month.
Which is why the Lakers should be grateful they still have LeBron James.
Who better to show a chronic underachiever how to maximize his gifts than a player preparing for a record 23rd season? Conversely, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer can’t inspire Ayton, who or what will?
The 40-year-old James will give the Lakers a chance to reach Ayton, which, in turn, will give them a chance to contend for another championship.
With their current roster, the Lakers clearly remain behind the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers belong with the next tier of Western Conference teams, alongside the Golden State Warriors and Clippers. That’s more or less where they were last season.
The Lakers are still looking for shooters. They still have to figure out how they’re going to stop anyone. They also need Ayton to be more than the player he was in his first seven NBA seasons, even with his respectable career averages of 16.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
James will lead by example. He will model the work habits required to be a consistent performer. He will display an attention to detail that will make Ayton recalibrate how he thinks of the game.
Reaves has benefited from his proximity to James. So has Rui Hachimura. Then again, Reaves and Hachimura were open to such guidance. Is Ayton?
Rewiring Ayton’s 27-year-old brain might feel like a longshot, but consider this: Ayton was at his best when he played alongside a strong veteran presence.
Ayton was a third-year player on the Suns when they acquired a 35-year-old Chris Paul before the 2020-21 season. With Ayton playing a starring role, the Suns went on to reach the NBA finals, where they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul, center, talks with center Deandre Ayton, left, during a playoff game against the Clippers in April 2023.
(Matt York / Associated Press)
The postseason run offered an example of how Ayton could respond positively to experienced leadership, as well as how he could be best deployed on the court.
The mobile Ayton was a dangerous threat for Paul, and he should be a dangerous lob threat for Luka Doncic. The ability of Ayton to knock down midrange jumpers spaced the floor for the Suns, and that skill will undoubtedly be exploited by coach JJ Redick.
The X’s and O’s won’t matter if Ayton doesn’t show up to play every night, however. Ayton presumably agreed to the buyout of his contract because he wanted to change the narrative of his career. This is his chance. He will have a playmaker in Doncic, a team with championship aspirations in the Lakers. Perhaps most important, he will have a teacher in James.
James exercised his player option for $52.6 million to play for the Lakers during the 2025-26 season, his agent and CEO of Klutch Sports Rich Paul told The Times on Sunday morning.
James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, had been tied with Vince Carter for the most seasons played in the NBA at 22. This will be James’ eighth season with the Lakers.
James, 40, is 50 games from breaking Hall of Famer Robert Parish’s record for the most games played in the regular season.
James averaged 24.4 points per game last season, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds.
Fellow Laker Dorian Finney-Smith reportedly declined his $15.3-million player option and will pursue free agency, a person with knowledge of his decision told The Times. Finney-Smith, who is coming off a strong season with the Lakers, is expected to be pursued by multiple teams. He could still return to the Lakers.
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CLIPPERS
From Broderick Turner: Clippers executives were serious when they said they had not soured on James Harden’s future with the franchise after an underwhelming postseason performance.
Harden declined his player option for $36 million with the Clippers on Sunday and intends to sign a two-year deal with the team for $81.5 million, league sources with knowledge of the deal not authorized to discuss it publicly said. The second year is a player option and is partially guaranteed.
The deal gave Harden a raise and the Clippers some salary flexibility going forward.
“He’s our No. 1 priority,” Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, told the media after the first round of the draft Wednesday night. “We’re super hopeful that James is here and he’s here for a long time. He has a player-option, so he can opt-in … or he can opt-out and hopefully we can do a deal that makes sense for both sides. But James, as you guys know, was phenomenal and we hope to continue to see his play.”
In the Dodgers’ 5-1 win over the Kansas City Royals — a victory that clinched the weekend series and gave the club a 5-1 record on this past week’s road trip — Wrobleski continued to quietly impress as a depth pitching option for the Dodgers, pitching six scoreless innings that were short on flash but long on substance; serving as the latest productive outing in his suddenly auspicious sophomore season.
“Justin’s confidence is at an all-time high,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And he’s a confident young man already.”
From Benjamin Royer: Young Angels fans who lined the infield for autographs as the team jogged onto the field Sunday, may not know the thrilling, heart-racing suspense of the postseason — nor the captivating, religious-like fervor the Rally Monkey could bring.
Neither did the Angels who took their places in the field, combining for zero postseason appearances — a group that hadn’t even made their major-league debuts when Mike Trout last led the Angels to the playoffs.
2014 represents the longest postseason drought in MLB. Meanwhile, the 2002 World Series title may read more as a story told by parents to the kids who ran back up into the shaded seats away from the blistering sun after receiving signed baseballs from a group featuring some present-day Angels — Nolan Schanuel, Christian Moore and Logan O’Hoppe.
On Sunday, however, a winning record remaining just past arm’s length in the Angels’ 11-inning, 7-4 defeat to the Nationals (35-49). Closer Kenley Jansen blew his first save of the season in the ninth while up one run. The Nationals’ rally was started by a leadoff double that could have been deemed an error by Schanuel on a bouncing ground ball that got past him at first.
From Anthony De Leon: When Candace Parker was on the court, the Sparks were dominant. On the afternoon her jersey was retired, they had a chance to channel that energy — but the Sparks were anything but overpowering.
In a matchup between the two franchises Parker led to WNBA titles — the Sparks and Chicago Sky — her hometown team played spoiler, earning a 92-85 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
Angel Reese, the self-proclaimed queen of “Mebounds,” proved too much for L.A. to handle — for the second time in five days.
Reese finished with 16 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. Her impact extended beyond the boards, with Reese adding 24 points and seven assists.
Emmanuel Sabbi scored on Vancouver’s only shot on goal, Yohei Takaoka made four saves and the Whitecaps spoiled Olivier Giroud’s farewell match with a 1-0 victory over LAFC on Sunday night.
Giroud started and played 60 minutes in his final appearance for LAFC. The famed French forward is expected to sign with Lille after one disappointing year in Los Angeles during which he was largely an unproductive substitute, scoring just five goals in 38 matches.
Giroud had a chance to go out with a bang when Denis Bouanga fed him an exceptional cross while he was unmarked deep in Vancouver’s penalty area in the 50th minute, but Giroud volleyed it over the bar.
Damion Downs scored in the sixth round of a shootout after three saves by Matt Freese, sending the U.S. to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 4-3 penalty-kicks win over Costa Rica after a a 2-2 tie on Sunday night.
The U.S. advanced to a Wednesday matchup in St. Louis against Guatemala, which upset Canada on penalty kicks in the opener of the quarterfinal doubleheader.
Mexico plays Honduras in the other semifinal on Wednesday in Santa Clara. The championship is in Houston on July 6.
1909 — Jack Johnson fights Tony Ross to a no decision in 6 rounds at Duquesne Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to retain his heavyweight boxing title.
1916 — Amateur Chick Evans Jr. wins the U.S. Open with a record 286 total.
1929 — Bobby Jones beats Al Espinosa by 23 strokes in a 36-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open.
1962 — Murle Lindstrom wins the U.S. Women’s Open by two strokes over Jo Anne Prentice and Ruth Jessen.
1965 — The NFL grants Atlanta a franchise. Rankin Smith Sr., an Executive Vice President of Life Insurance Company of Georgia, pays $8.5 million for the franchise. It’s the highest price paid in league history at the time.
1975 — Muhammad Ali retains world heavyweight boxing crown by beating Englishman Joe Bugner by unanimous points decision in a re-match in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
1991 — Wimbledon breaks 114 years of tradition by playing on the middle Sunday of the tournament, a move forced by a huge backlog of matches caused by rain earlier in the week.
1991 — Meg Mallon sinks a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole to break a tie with Pat Bradley and Ayako Okamoto and win the LPGA Championship.
1993 — NBA Draft: Michigan center Chris Webber first pick by Orlando Magic (traded to Golden State).
1994 — Diego Maradona is kicked out of the World Cup by FIFA for failing a drug test after Argentina’s June 25 victory over Nigeria in Foxboro, Mass.
1994 — Tonya Harding is stripped of her national title and banned for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Association because of her role in an attack on Nancy Kerrigan.
1996 — UEFA European Championship Final, Wembley Stadium, London, England: Oliver Bierhoff scores his second goal in extra time as Germany beat Czech Republic, 2-1.
1999 — NBA Draft: Duke power forward Elton Brand first pick by Chicago Bulls.
2002 — Ronaldo scores both goals to lead Brazil to a 2-0 victory over Germany for the team’s record fifth World Cup title.
2012 — Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan becomes the first player in a Grand Slam tournament to win every point of a set on her way to beating French Open runner-up Sara Errani 6-0, 6-4 in the third round of Wimbledon.
2013 — Inbee Park wins the U.S. Women’s Open for her third straight major this year. Babe Zaharias is the last player to win three straight majors on the calendar, but that was in 1950 when that’s all there were.
2013 — NHL Draft: Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) center Nathan MacKinnon #1 pick by Colorado Avalanche.
2015 — The United States defeat Germany 2-0 in semifinals at Women’s World Cup. Carli Lloyd converts a penalty kick for Team USA and a 1-0 lead. Substitute Kelley O’Hara scores in the 84th minute off a Lloyd cross to seal the U.S. team’s 2-0 victory.
2018 — FIFA World Cup: Kylian Mbappé (19) becomes only 2nd teenager (Pelé 1st 1958) to score twice in a World Cup match as France eliminate Argentina 4-3 in Kazan.
2020 — FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi scores his 700th career goal in a 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1908 — Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox pitched the third no-hitter of his career at age 41, an 8-0 win over the New York Highlanders.
1948 — Cleveland’s Bob Lemon pitched a 2-0 no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers for the first American League no-hitter at night.
1962 — Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers struck out 13 New York Mets en route to the first of four career no-hitters, a 5-0 victory at Dodger Stadium.
1970 — Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati was dedicated, but Henry Aaron spoiled the show for the crowd of 51,050 with a first-inning homer off Jim McGlothlin to send Atlanta past the Reds 8-2.
1978 — Willie McCovey became the 12th player in major league history to hit 500 home runs. His shot off Atlanta’s Jamie Easterly wasn’t enough, with the Braves beating the visiting San Francisco Giants 10-5 in the second game of a doubleheader.
1986 — 1985 Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson makes his pro baseball debut with the Memphis Chicks of the AA Southern League and goes 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.
1995 — Eddie Murray of the Cleveland Indians became the second switch-hitter and the 20th player in baseball history to reach 3,000 hits when he singled against the Minnesota Twins. Murray joined Pete Rose, the career hits leader with 4,256, as the only switch-hitters to get 3,000.
1997 — Bobby Witt of Texas hit the first home run by an American League pitcher in a regular-season game in almost 25 years, connecting off Ismael Valdes in the Rangers’ 3-2 interleague victory over the Dodgers.
1998 — Sammy Sosa hit his 20th home run in June, extending his major league record for most homers in a month with an eighth-inning shot for the Cubs against Arizona.
2005 — Chad Cordero earned his 15th save in June in the Washington Nationals’ 7-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. He tied a major league record set by Lee Smith in 1993 and matched by John Wetteland in 1996.
2006 — Adam Dunn hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning off closer Bob Wickman to lead Cincinnati to a 9-8 victory over Cleveland.
2008 — Nick Swisher homered from both sides of the plate, hitting his second grand slam in four games and adding a solo shot to lead the Chicago White Sox past Cleveland, 9-7.
2009 — Nick Markakis hit a two-run double off Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon to complete the biggest comeback in Baltimore Orioles history for an 11-10 win. Baltimore trailed 10-1 before scoring five runs in the seventh inning and five more in the eighth.
2016 — Coastal Carolina capitalized on two errors on the same play for four unearned runs in the sixth inning, and the Chanticleers won their first national championship in any sport with a 4-3 victory over Arizona in Game 3 of the College World Series finals. The Chanticleers became the first school since Minnesota in 1956 to win the title in its first CWS appearance.
2020 — Minor League Baseball officially announces the cancellation of its season as Major League Baseball will keep a “taxi squad” of eligible players that can be added to the roster if needed.
2021 — Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner ties the major league record by hitting for the cycle for the third time in a 15-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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Lakers superstar LeBron James will once again make NBA history by playing in his 23rd NBA season.
James exercised his player option for $52.6 million to play for the Lakers during the 2025-26 season, his agent and CEO of Klutch Sports Rich Paul told The Times on Sunday morning.
James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, had been tied with Vince Carter for the most seasons played in the NBA at 22. This will be James’ eighth season with the Lakers.
James, 40, is 50 games away from breaking Hall of Famer Robert Parish’s record for the most games played in the regular season.
James averaged 24.4 points per game last season, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds.
Fellow Laker Dorian Finney-Smith reportedly declined his $15.3-million player option and will pursue free agency, a person with knowledge of his decision told The Times. Finney-Smith, who is coming off a strong season with the Lakers, is expected to be pursued by multiple teams. He could still return to the Lakers. ESPN was first to report Finney-Smith’s decision.
Last week, Austin Reaves declined the team’s maximum offer of four years for $89 million, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Reaves, 27, still has two years left on his deal, for $13.9 million next season and $14.9 million in the 2026-27 season, and he holds a player option for the last year of his deal.
Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and teammate Austin Reaves react to a referee’s call during a 2025 NBA playoff game against Minnesota.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
He was third on the Lakers in scoring last season, averaging career-highs in scoring (20.2), assists (5.8), rebounds (4.5) and minutes per game (34.9). He shot 46% from the field and 37.7% from three-point range.
With the James and Smith player option questions resolved Sunday, the Lakers are focused on filling out their roster. They added an athletic wing player when they acquired Adou Thiero in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who drafted him with the 36th pick in the second round.
The most pressing need for the Lakers remains a center, and they’ll have to look into free agency or via trade to acquire one.
The Lakers have the taxpayer mid-level exception of about $5.65 million to spend.
“As I said at the end of the year, we know one of the things we have to address is the center position and that’s clearly going to be one of our focuses as we begin the free-agency period,” Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, told Spectrum SportsNet after the second round of the draft Thursday. “… “So, we’re looking forward to just putting in the hard work and making sure we take care of all the needs on the roster to give [Lakers coach] JJ [Redick] the tools he needs for this team to be great next season.”
Twenty-two seasons ago, LeBron James entered the NBA with almost unbelievable expectations, the fate of a franchise in Cleveland and a league hungry for a new star on his back.
Twenty-two years later, the Lakers’ star exceeded even the most outlandish predictions, winning championships in three different cities, scoring more points than anyone in league history and authoring the kind of sustained greatness that’s unmatched across sport.
And if you needed proof, more was offered Friday.
A panel of media voters selected James to the league’s All-NBA second team — the 21st year he’s been voted all-league on one of the three teams. His 21 All-NBA appearances is six more than Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, Kobe Bryant andf Tim Duncan, who are tied with the second at 15.
Despite turning 40 in late December, James played 70 games and averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists while shooting 51.3% from the field and 37.6% from three. His 78.2% shooting from the free-throw line was a career best.
Clippers guard James Harden made All-NBA third team, his eighth All-NBA selection and first since 2020.
League MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell made first team All-NBA.
Jalen Brunson, Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards and Evan Mobley joined James on the second team while Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Haliburton, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Williams were with Harden on the third team.
James, who suffered a sprained medial collageral ligament in the Lakers’ final game of the first round, has a $52-million player option for next season. If he declines the option, he’d be an unrestricted free agent.
