Sports
Hernández: How committed is LeBron James to the Lakers after Luka Doncic trade?
As it was, the Lakers were reluctant to sacrifice their future for the sake of building the best possible team around a 40-year-old version of LeBron James.
Now, with the Lakers trading for the Next LeBron, was the Old LeBron concerned they could further prioritize the future over the present?
“What’s wrong with that?” James replied.
Before I could remind him of his public campaigns to directly or indirectly shame Lakers management into improving the roster in the weeks leading up to every recent trade deadline, he continued, “If I had concerns, I would’ve waived my no-trade clause and got up out of here.”
The declaration wasn’t entirely convincing, not because of what he said but because of how he said it.
His body language certainly didn’t project enthusiasm at the prospect of remaining with the Lakers for the remainder of his career, as his voice was monotone and his lips were pursed.
I asked James if he still envisioned retiring with the Lakers. Just five weeks ago, he said that was “the plan,” but he could become a free agent this summer by declining a player option for the 2025-26 season.
“I mean, listen, I’m here right now,” James said. “I’m here right now. I’m committed to the Lakers organization.”
More specifically, he said he was committed to helping integrate the team’s three newly-acquired players.
“As a leader of the team, as one of the captains of the team, it’s my job to make it as seamless as possible,” James said.
So he didn’t waive the no-trade provision in his contract — for now. He’s here — for now. He didn’t say he didn’t want to retire with the Lakers, but he didn’t say he wanted to either.
Maybe James didn’t want to look or sound overly delighted with his team’s overnight transformation out of respect to his handpicked sidekick and close friend Anthony Davis, who was unceremoniously traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Maybe James was concealing how upset he was.
Or, more likely, maybe James didn’t know what to think about how the Lakers suddenly went from being his team to Luka Doncic’s.
James is notoriously passive-aggressive. He often refrains from explicitly saying what he wants, but he usually finds a way to convey how he’s feeling.
When he declined to say at the end of last season whether he thought he might have played his last season for the Lakers, he was basically calling on them to surround him with better players and draft his son Bronny. When he said last month that the Lakers had to play “close-to-perfect basketball” to win, he was demanding they upgrade the team.
His words after the Lakers’ 122-97 victory over the Clippers on Tuesday night at the Intuit Dome were uncharacteristically hard to decipher.
Why?
Probably because he was still trying to figure out how the trade for Doncic would affect him.
James has spent his entire 22-year career as the most important person on every team on which he’s played, and that counts the teams’ owners. He influenced the construction of rosters, which were designed to magnify his virtues, and rightly so. He’s one of the greatest players of all time.
Even in this final stage of his career, James has wielded significant power over the Lakers. He might have lost the ability to carry a team to a championship on his own, but his stardom offered an otherwise incompetent franchise something to sell. As long as the Lakers had James, they were relevant. So when James wanted them to draft his son, they did.
Doncic cost James his leverage. Before finalizing their trade for Doncic, the Lakers should have been frightened by the thought of James retiring, as it would have sent them into the kind of Dark Age they endured between Kobe Bryant’s retirement and James’ arrival. Doncic might not deliver the Lakers a championship, but he will provide them with an identity. In addition to being a generational scorer, the Slovenian also speaks Spanish, which could help him connect with his heavily-Latino city in ways James never could.
General manager Rob Pelinka said earlier in the day at Doncic’s introductory news conference, “Luka will be at the center of what we build long-term.” Pelinka never mentioned James.
James, who was unaware a trade was in the works until it was completed, said the magnitude of the deal shocked him.
“I ain’t never seen this one,” he said. “I have seen it all up until this one. I have never been part of one transaction like that. That was different.”
Since the death of owner Jerry Buss, the Lakers have been known to take the path of least resistance. In this case, that would be for James and Doncic to play well together, for the two players to lead the Lakers to a title, and for the ageless James to teach the soft-bodied Doncic how to take better care of himself.
Such a scenario would count as a win for everyone involved, and James has started the process of building a relationship with Doncic, sitting next to the sidelined newcomer on the bench during the Lakers’ win over the Clippers and sharing his admiration of him after.
“Luka’s been my favorite player in the NBA for a while now,” James said.
For his part, Doncic said he has long admired James from a distance and said playing alongside him would be “a dream come true.”
The partnership could very well be a failure, however. James and Doncic both like to have the ball in their hands, and at least one of them will have to figure out how to play off the ball. The team’s defense could also be problematic, especially if the Lakers don’t land a center before the trade deadline on Thursday. James was solid defensively against the Clippers, but how consistent can he be on that end of the floor at his age? Doncic and Austin Reaves can guard only the most limited offensive players.
“It’s kind of hard right now to digest what it’s going to look like on the floor,” James acknowledged.
That’s probably why James was unclear about his future.
By playing for the Lakers as long as he has, James has shown he values living in Los Angeles more than he does winning another championship. The smart money would be on him to finish his career with the Lakers.
But what if the Lakers don’t want to re-sign him when he becomes a free agent after next season? What if the team wavers in its commitment to develop his son?
The choice might not be his.
For the first time in his career, LeBron James isn’t in control.
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The PGA Tour has announced that it will not be hosting an event in Hawaii during the 2027 season, ending a 56-year run of holding a tournament in The Aloha State. The change comes as the Tour and CEO Brian Rolapp have consistently teased a revamped schedule beginning next year.
The Tour was forced to cancel The Sentry at the start of the 2026 campaign due to the dying grass on the Plantation Course at Kapalua amid a local dispute with the company responsible for delivering water to the area.
An aerial view of the golf course from over the ocean prior to The Sentry at The Plantation Course at Kapalua on December 31, 2023 in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii. (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR) (Ben Jared/PGA TOUR)
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With The Sentry being canceled, the Sony Open at Waialae Country on Oahu served as the Tour’s season opener in ‘26, which was won by Chris Gotterup. The event was in the final year of its sponsorship, although the Tour has shared that it is working toward making the event the opening event on the PGA Tour Champions circuit.
Chris Gotterup of the United States celebrates with the trophy on the 18th green after his winning round of the Sony Open in Hawaii 2026 at Waialae Country Club on January 18, 2026 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images) (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
The Tour’s removal of The Sentry and the Sony Open wipes out what has now turned into a traditional two-week stretch on the island to begin a new season.
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The PGA Tour did not share further details about the 2027 schedule upon its announcement about leaving Hawaii, but with Sentry reportedly being an event title-sponsor through 2035, it will need to find a new landing spot on the calendar. The logical stop would be Torrey Pines in San Diego, which checks the West Coast and great weather boxes, but the venue is also looking for a new sponsor, as its deal with Farmers Insurance ended in 2026.
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View of the 18th hole is seen during the final round of The Sentry at The Plantation Course at Kapalua on January 5, 2025 in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii. (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images) (Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
The Tour’s decision not to begin next season in Hawaii makes sense, as there are plenty of venues in the lower 48 states that are much easier to operate from, but the departure will have a tremendous financial impact on the state.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that The Sentry is estimated to have a $50 million annual impact on the community, while the Sony Open directly generates an estimated $100 million in revenue per year, plus another $1 million per year to Friends of Hawaii charities.
Martin Dugard is a prolific author and writer. He’s also an assistant cross-country coach at Santa Margarita after being head coach at JSerra for 15 years.
His newest book is “The Long Run,” which discusses the 1970s running boom and is a narrative history of four who sparked the marathon boom: Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit Samuelson and Grete Waitz.
He’s going to have a book signing on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 26751 Aliso Creek Rd., Aliso Viejo.
Don’t be surprised if he tries to run from Rancho Santa Margarita to his book signing.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
For years, Stephen A. Smith’s many football blunders have been easy enough to explain away.
He’s not an NFL guy (remember when he said the three key players for a game were three guys who weren’t playing in the game?)
Stephen A. Smith falsely claimed the Warriors haven’t made the playoffs since 2022, but Golden State reached the second round in both 2023 and 2025. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)
He’s definitely not a college football guy (remember when he called Jalen Milroe Jalen “Milroy” multiple times and then read the wrong stat line after a College Football Playoff game?).
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ESPN forces him into those conversations because First Take has to talk football, and Smith knows that football is the most popular sport in the country and he needs to be seen as an authority (even though he isn’t).
But Monday’s latest mistake is a lot tougher to excuse, because this time Smith wasn’t talking about the NFL or college football. He was talking about the Golden State Warriors, one of the defining NBA dynasties of the last decade.
In other words, he was talking about the sport and the league that’s supposed to be his bread and butter.
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While discussing whether Steve Kerr has coached his last game with Golden State, Smith confidently stated the Warriors “haven’t been back to the playoffs since that championship in 2022.”
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr looks on during a game against the Sacramento Kings. (Robert Edwards/Imagn Images)
That’s not even close to true. Not only did Golden State make the playoffs last season, but they also reached the postseason in 2023. Last year, the Warriors made the playoffs, beat the Rockets in seven games and advanced to the second round before losing to the Timberwolves. In 2023, they beat the Sacramento Kings in the first round and before losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.
So, Smith wouldn’t even have been right if he said they haven’t won a playoff series since 2022. But he didn’t say that. He said they didn’t make the playoffs in any of the past four years, except they did it twice.
Yikes.
This is not an obscure piece of NBA trivia that Smith could be easily forgiven for not knowing. Perhaps he was too busy playing solitaire on his phone and just missed two of the past three NBA postseasons. That’s a tough look for the guy who fancies himself as the No. 1 NBA analyst in the country.
And it’s a terrible look for ESPN, as they keep selling Smith as one of the faces of their NBA coverage.
Stephen A. Smith made a brutal gaffe while talking Warriors playoff history
If Smith made this kind of mistake while talking about the NFL, nobody would be shocked. At this point, sports fans practically expect him to butcher football analysis. It’s almost endearing that a guy with the ego of Smith can be so consistently wrong while also delivering every “fact” with the utmost confidence. It’s part of the Stephen A. experience.
But this one hits differently because the NBA is where he’s supposed to at least know the basics. This is where Smith prides himself as being an authority figure.
Stephen A. Smith incorrectly stated the Golden State Warriors haven’t made the playoffs since their 2022 championship, despite the team reaching the postseason twice since then. (Candice Ward/Imagn Images)
And yet he couldn’t keep the recent playoff history of the Warriors straight. The team whose head coach is in the news every other week. The team that has won four championships since 2014. Arguably one of the most important franchises in the NBA over the past 15 years.
Yes, Golden State missed the playoffs in 2024 after getting bounced in the Play-In Tournament (although they won 46 games that season). And yes, it fell short again this season. But that’s a lot different from acting like Steve Kerr has spent four years wandering the basketball wilderness since winning that 2022 title.
He hasn’t. In fact, the team is 175-153 in the past four regular seasons.
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The Warriors made the second round in 2023. They made the second round again in 2025.
Before burying Steve Kerr on national television, maybe Stephen A. Smith could take 10 seconds to confirm whether the Warriors were actually, you know, in the playoffs.
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