The 4-time NBA champion LeBron James has agreed to a two-year, $85 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers to defend their title in the upcoming NBA season.
James' agent, Rich Paul, also the founder of Klutch Sports Group, shared the news with ESPN and multiple outlets on Wednesday.
James, the Laker star, will be turning 36 years old later this month, but despite his age and playing in his 17th season, he managed to lead the NBA in assists with 10.2 assists per game.
James will be 39 by the time his recent contract will end, CBS Sports reported.
The extension offered by the Lakers to James will take him through the 2022-2023 NBA season, which will bring his NBA seasons to 20, after playing for 11 seasons with Cleveland Cavaliers in two stints, four seasons with the Miami Heat, and at least five in Los Angeles.
The Lakers star is now set to make $39.2 million in 2020-2021, $41,180,544 in 2021-2022 and in 2022-23 season, $44,474,988.
Lebron James' earnings from his NBA contracts will approach $435 million when his extension ends.
After leading the Lakers in defeating the Miami Heat in six games, James was named as the 2020 NBA Finals MVP making him the only player in NBA history to win the Finals MVP award with three different franchises. He led the Miami Heat in 2012 and '13 and the Cavaliers in 2016, The Score reported.
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James' oldest son, 16-year-old Bronny, is slated to graduate high school in 2023.
Lebron is currently no. 3 on the career scoring list of the NBA with 34,241 points, which is just 4,146 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who sits in the top spot.
According to NBA.com, if 'The King' will average 25 points and play the majority of games in the next two seasons, he will be taking the throne of Abdul-Jabbar while wearing the purple and gold jersey in the 2022-23 NBA season.
Lebron James also currently ranks no. 8 on the all-time assists list, ranked 13th in steals, no. 15 in 3-pointers made, and no. 48 in rebounds.
The NBA superstar did not only fill his stats sheet in the regular season as he already leads the scoring list of the NBA postseason history. He is first in the rank in terms of steals, second in assists behind Magic Johnson, second as well in 3-pointers made behind former rival Stephen Curry, sixth in the rebounds list in the postseason with 2,348 rebounds and 250 blocks, which put him as the 11th all-time in the postseason list for blocks.
The recent addition of Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroder, and Wesley Matthews solidified the chance of the Los Angeles Lakers for a back-to-back championship run with Matthews playing the wing spot, Schroder manning the backcourt while Gasol and Harrell filling the lanes and popping the pick and rolls.
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