Sports
How LeBron James, Darvin Ham and the Lakers reached a critical offseason crossroads
LeBron James and his Lakers teammates were overcome with disbelief. They rushed to the monitor on the scorer’s table in Minnesota to see the play in dispute.
They pleaded and pointed at the zoomed-in image of the toe of James’ right sneaker and the blue three-point line it might or might not have touched.
James was sure he was behind it. Replay officials were not.
The shot, which would’ve tied the score and probably forced overtime, was ruled a two. They lost.
On Dec. 30 in Minnesota, the Lakers felt they were an inch away from a win, so close to some salvation after a brutal month.
“Stevie Wonder can see that, champ,” James said after the loss. “Over there in the replay center or whatever, somebody over there eating a ham sandwich, or somebody made the call.”
With the Lakers’ season over, a frame-by-frame examination of what happened isn’t necessary.
“Your eyes will tell you,” said one Lakers insider not authorized to publicly discuss team operations.
There was no need to enlarge or enhance, no reason to squint. The Lakers were good, maybe even close to better than that.
Yet they weren’t championship good and maybe not even contender good, a precious season gone with a first-round playoff exit and changes likely on the way.
Too many one-sided minutes, too much bad injury luck. An aging star. A controversial coach. An in-season tournament title and a midseason crisis.
It never was going to end with a trip to the NBA Finals.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham, left, and forward LeBron James share a laugh after Anthony Davis (not pictured) celebrated a three-point basket.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Now that the Lakers’ season has ended, the impossible autopsy begins.
How good could the team could have been had they been healthier, had their two primary on-ball defenders — Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent — been healthy and in the regular rotation? How good would they have been if their coach, Darvin Ham, abandoned reliability and balance to lean into talent earlier by simply putting his best players on the court to start games?
Who is to blame? Who gets credit? Who returns? Who goes?
The questions start with James, who somehow established new highs in his 21st NBA season, playing 71 games (the most he has played in a season for the Lakers) and shooting 41% from three-point range. He averaged 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds at 39 years old. No other player has done that after age 30.
He has done it five times.
James can turn down $51.4-million this offseason and exercise his player option, making him an unrestricted free agent. If he sought a max deal elsewhere, he’d likely be paid more than $55 million per season.
This season answered questions about his durability and effectiveness as he neared 40 (he’ll hit that mark next December), but his consistency on the defensive end was an issue.
Asked about his future before the All-Star Game, James praised the Lakers while giving himself wiggle room.
“I don’t know. I am a Laker, and I am happy and been very happy being a Laker the last six years, and hopefully it stays that way,” he said . “But I don’t have the answer to how long it is or which uniform I’ll be in. I don’t know how it’s going to end, but it’s coming.”
He’s not the only Laker with a decision.
D’Angelo Russell can opt out, leaving $18.7 million on the table. Up until the postseason, that seemed like a lock, though it’s hard to know if his struggles against the Denver Nuggets will change that calculus.
Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish also have player options for next season. Spencer Dinwiddie and Taurean Prince are unrestricted free agents and Max Christie is headed to restricted free agency.
The Lakers will pick 17th and 55th in the upcoming draft, though their first-round pick could end up with New Orleans. Insiders believe the Lakers, though, will end up keeping that pick while sending their 2025 first-round choice to New Orleans to finish the Anthony Davis trade.
Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt has his layup contested by Clippers guard Norman Powell during a game in January. Vanderbilt played in only 29 games this season.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
After the Lakers were torched by Memphis’ Ja Morant for 28 points in the third quarter of a loss in February 2023, one player looked to Ham.
“That guy,” the player said, “needs to be better.”
In-game adjustments were slow that season — Morant exploited that. But a strong postseason helped the Lakers move past Memphis and Golden State before they ran into the Nuggets, the eventual champions, and were swept in the conference finals.
Scouts who questioned Ham during the season were impressed with his game plans in the postseason, the Lakers a step ahead of both the Grizzlies and the Warriors in the first two rounds. Ham and the Lakers’ run deep into the playoffs earned him and the roster a chance to run things back. Continuity was prioritized, the Lakers adding around the edges.
But the first signs of trouble for the revamped Lakers appeared in the preseason, Ham having one of his biggest decisions made for him with injuries to Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura.
Vanderbilt’s preseason was cut short because of a heel injury, and Hachimura had the first of his three multigame absences, this one because of a concussion.
It meant Ham turned to Prince, a player he previously coached in Atlanta, as a starting wing. Vincent, signed for his toughness, defense and firepower, quickly was sidelined because of a knee injury.
In a blink, the two best perimeter defenders, Vanderbilt and Vincent, were unavailable.
Nine games into the season, Ham moved Austin Reaves to the bench — a move that was unpopular inside his locker room. Reaves, coming off a strong summer for Team USA, was slowed by a hip injury early and struggled defensively (he showed improvement in the second half of the season).
Lakers guard Austin Reaves steals the ball from Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards during a game in March at Crypto.com Arena.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Reaves stayed on the bench, with Ham using Reddish as a starter, hoping to unlock the former lottery pick as a defensive specialist. Through the lineup changes, the Lakers cruised to win the first in-season tournament, another sign they, and Ham, were maybe at their best when the stakes were high.
But immediately after the tournament, the season threatened to go off the rails. The schedule was cruel, the Lakers on the road for most of a month while the quality of opponents spiked. Emotional and physical fatigue intersected as the first trade rumors surfaced.
Desperate to establish more defensive identity, Ham would use Reddish, Prince and Vanderbilt as starters — meaning three key members from last season’s team, Reaves, Russell and Hachimura, all were coming off the bench.
Russell’s December put him squarely in trade talks, with some people involved with the Lakers wondering how much better they would’ve been had they landed Mike Conley instead at the 2023 deadline trade that transformed their season.
Ham’s job security would be called into question as the team entered 2024 with the good vibes from the in-season tournament gone. After a so-so January ended with the Lakers getting blown out on back-to-back nights in Houston and Atlanta, James posted an hourglass emoji on social media, a reminder that his patience was waning.
He and Anthony Davis sat out the next game, in Boston, and the Lakers pulled off an incredible win. Vanderbilt, though, suffered a major foot injury and sat out the rest of the season.
Insiders believe Vanderbilt had been headed for a reunion with a starting group that began 13 playoff games the season before. But because of injuries and Ham’s preferences, that five didn’t start a single game together during the 2023-24 season.
Without Vanderbilt, Ham committed to a new path, with Hachimura, Russell and Reaves all starting — the Lakers finally landing on a starting five that had roots in last season’s playoff run.
By then, Russell had emerged as the Lakers’ most consistent third option alongside James and Davis, staring down weeks of trade rumors to set a team record for three-pointers in a season.
That group reenergized the Lakers’ season, the team going 22-10 after inserting Hachimura into the starting five.
“With my craft and my talent on the floor, I’ve always felt like I was capable of doing things,” Russell said after a game-winner against Milwaukee. “Getting hot makes it a little more exciting throughout a game. Off the floor, obviously, you know what I’ve been through. Public humiliation has done nothing but molded me into the killer that ya’ll see today. And, um, I never lack confidence. I never fear confrontation. I want all the smoke.”
While the team surged and ended the regular season 12 games over .500, some within the team and organization often wondered how much better the record would’ve been had the Lakers made those lineup changes sooner.
The Lakers now enter the offseason unsure of what they were and what they can be — and, in the end, that’s probably what you’re in for with a team in their position.
With James still able to perform and earn maximum money, there is no time for patience and no prioritization for development. Never has a player been more “win now” than James at this stage.
Those with knowledge of the Lakers situation who were not authorized to speak publicly said that after a quiet trade deadline, team officials regularly discussed the possibility of trading three first-round picks this offseason to add a player who would provide a bigger impact. Atlanta guards Dejounte Murray and Trae Young are among the possibilities.
The Lakers could unbundle those picks and use them in multiple transactions to try to improve their supporting cast.
James’ presence certainly will play a major role in how they operate, as will that of Davis, whom the team signed to a long-term extension before this season.
As the organization tries to make sense of the season it just had, it will have to wrestle with a first-round loss in which the Lakers led at halftime in all five games. It’ll have to deal with the knowledge that the Lakers led for more minutes than they trailed, that the smallest mistakes had the biggest impact.
In a lot of ways, the end was a lot like that shot in Minnesota.
The Lakers were so close. Yet close for this team at this moment isn’t anywhere near good enough.
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
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Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
Thousand-dollar tickets and hundreds of dollars in fees shocked some hopeful Olympic fans this month, but they did not keep LA28 from boasting strong sales in the committee’s first ticket drop.
LA28 announced Thursday that it sold more than 4 million Olympic tickets during the first ticket drop. The private organizing committee will have a second ticket drop in August with “refreshed inventory across all Olympic sports at a range of price points.”
But after the popularity of the first purchasing period, many of the lower-priced tickets have already been scooped up.
LA28 said roughly half of the total 1 million $28 tickets were sold during the locals presale, which was limited to people living near venue cities in Southern California and Oklahoma City.
The average price per Olympic ticket is less than $200, which includes a mandatory 24% service fee, and LA28 said about 75% of all tickets, including final events, will be under $400. The premier seats at high-demand events command more than $1,000 per ticket, but the highest priced categories make up about 5% of the total ticket inventory.
Artistic gymnastics sold out the quickest in Drop 1. Four new Olympic sports — flag football, lacrosse, softball and squash — sold all their available inventory for the first drop. After five days of local presale, global ticket sales opened and drew fans from 85 countries and all 50 states and U.S. territories. The largest international sales came from the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico and Japan.
For the first female-majority Olympic Games, LA28 reported that women’s Olympic sessions outsold men’s 93% to 88% during the first drop.
“The response to our initial on-sale was nothing short of historic. Fans from near and far have spoken: the world wants to be part of the LA28 Games,” LA28 chief executive officer Reynold Hoover said in a statement. “The success of Drop 1 is about more than momentum — it reflects LA28’s commitment to delivering a fiscally responsible Games that create a lasting legacy for Los Angeles and its communities.”
Drop 2, which will begin in August, will have additional tickets across all Olympic sports, including those that may have sold out during the first purchasing windows. The registration period for Drop 2 opened Thursday and will continue until July 22. Fans who registered for the first drop of tickets but did not receive a time slot and fans who did not buy their maximum 12 general ticket allotment will automatically be entered into the random lottery Drop 2. The new registration period is only required for anybody who did not sign up for the initial drop.
Fans are still limited to 12 Olympic tickets and up to 12 soccer tickets that don’t count toward the general maximum. There is a four ticket per ceremony limit for the opening and closing ceremony that count toward the 12-ticket maximum, which is cumulative across all LA28 presales and ticket drops.
LA28 will have multiple ticket drops with assigned purchasing time slots before ticket sales move to a first-come, first-served format closer to the Games, which open on July 14, 2028. LA28 began its ticketing process earlier than most other Olympic Games with tickets going on sale more than two years in advance of the opening ceremony. The early timeline has created excitement for the first Summer Olympics in the United States since Atlanta 1996, but also prompted concerns about scheduling. Fans clamored for tickets with little information about which teams or athletes would be competing in most sessions.
Tickets are not refundable, but fans can opt for verified resale when LA28 launches its official resale system in 2027. AXS and Eventim is the official secondary ticket marketplace of the LA28 Games and Ticketmaster and Sports Illustrated Tickets have also signed on as additional verified resale platforms.
LA28 will have 14 million tickets available for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which would eclipse the record of 12 million tickets sold for the Paris Games. Paris 2024 sold an about 9.5 million tickets for the Olympics, but used a different ticket system than LA28. For Paris, 3.5 million tickets were sold during the first phase, during which fans were required to buy tickets to at least three different sports instead of the option for single-event tickets available during LA28’s Drop 1 process.
Tickets for the 2028 Paralympics, which will be the first in L.A.’s history, will go on sale in 2027. Ticket sales and hospitality are expected to cover about $2.5 billion of LA28’s expected $7.1 billion budget for the first Games in L.A. in more than 40 years.
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An envoy for President Donald Trump has reportedly asked FIFA to replace Iran with Italy in the 2026 World Cup this summer.
The Financial Times reported the plan is an effort to repair the relationship between Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which soured after the former’s comments against Pope Leo XIV regarding the war with Iran.
United States special envoy Paolo Zampolli suggested the idea to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
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President Donald Trump receives the FIFA Peace Prize from FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Draw at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 5, 2025. (Emilee Chinn/FIFA)
“I confirm I have suggested to Trump and Infantino that Italy replace Iran at the World Cup. I’m an Italian native, and it would be a dream to see the Azzurri at a U.S.-hosted tournament,” Zampolli told the outlet. “With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify inclusion.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Fox News Digital.
Italy had a chance to be in the World Cup already, but it lost in a penalty shootout to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a qualifying playoff final.
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Italy became the first World Cup-winning team to miss three consecutive tournaments after the 4-1 penalty shootout loss earlier this month.
“We still don’t believe it that we’re out and that it happened in this manner,” Italy’s Leonardo Spinazzola told reporters at the time, according to the New York Post.
“It’s upsetting for everyone. For us, for our families and for all the kids who have never seen Italy at a World Cup.”
While Zampolli told Infantino about his proposed plan, FIFA’s president said Iran “for sure” will play in the World Cup despite the conflict involving the U.S.
Mehdi Taremi of Iran celebrates after scoring a goal during a 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Group A game against Uzbekistan at Azadi Stadium in Tehran March 25, 2025. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu)
“The Iranian team is coming, for sure,” Infantino said during the CNBC Invest in America Forum earlier this month in Washington, D.C.
“We hope that, by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation. That would definitely help. But Iran has to come, of course. They represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”
Infantino visited the Iranian national team in Turkey, which is where it has its training camp.
All three of Iran’s group stage games are scheduled to be played in the U.S. That remains the case after Iranian government officials suggested to FIFA that their games be moved to Mexico because they could not travel to the U.S.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum revealed FIFA’s rejection of Iran’s request, and it is insisting Iran play where it’s scheduled — SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and Lumen Field in Seattle. Iran said earlier this month it would only decide on its team’s participation once it heard from FIFA regarding its relocation request.
Iran is scheduled to play at SoFi Stadium against New Zealand June 16 to begin its tournament. It will also play Belgium at the stadium before finishing group play against Mo Salah and Egypt in Seattle June 26.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends an international friendly between Mexico and Portugal at Banorte Stadium in Mexico City March 28, 2026. (Antonio Torres/FIFA/Getty Images)
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Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last month that Iran would be welcome to compete in the World Cup as scheduled, though it might not be “appropriate” considering the conflict.
“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” he wrote.
Trump also told Politico, “I really don’t care,” when asked about Iran’s participation in the tournament. Infantino, who has a strong relationship with Trump, said Trump has “reiterated” to him that the U.S. welcomes Iran’s team to compete.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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