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LeBron James: LA Lakers officially sign three-time NBA champion

Last updated on .From the section Basketballcomments66

LeBron James
LeBron James has played in eight consecutive NBA finals

LeBron James has officially joined LA Lakers in a four-year deal worth $154m (£116m), with Magic Johnson calling it a "huge step" for the team.

James, 33, was a free agent after leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The three-time NBA champion with Cleveland and Miami Heat joins a team that last made the play-offs in 2013.

"This is a historic moment," said Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka. "It serves as the ultimate validation for what we are building here."

President of basketball operations and former player Johnson called James the "best player in the world".

"It's a huge step closer to returning the Lakers to the play-offs and to the NBA Finals," added Johnson.

Greatest ever?
4 x NBA MVP14 x NBA All-Star
3 X NBA Champion2 x Olympic gold medal
3 x NBA Finals MVP7th all-time regular season points
9 x NBA Finals appearances1st all-time play-offs points

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66 comments

  • Comment posted by cv96, at 11:16 10 Jul 2018

    Unbelievable professional. Of course the money is ridiculous but thats the same at the top end of other sports as well. Came from nothing and will retire as one of, if not the greatest to ever play the game. He's secured his family for generations to come and you have to respect that....

  • Comment posted by SamB, at 13:59 10 Jul 2018

    @6 "Of Zero interest to 99.999% of the UK population - but in the BBC's world it's worth reporting. Any chance you could extend and improve your coverage of 'The Championship' - it's the 4th most popular Football league in Europe"

    Calm down. The championship regular coverage but 1 little article on basketball and you throw a tantrum.

  • Comment posted by campbelljaa, at 12:20 10 Jul 2018

    If you have no interest in this story, then why bother commenting on it?

    The guy's the an unbelievable athlete and I do hope he can win a few more rings with the Lakers

  • Comment posted by SteH11, at 14:01 10 Jul 2018

    @37, and whilst they're at it why not stop reporting on the boys in the Thai caves or anything that Trump or north korea does as that's not in the UK either.

  • Comment posted by LG, at 12:33 10 Jul 2018

    Nine finals in a row for LeBron? Going to be tough for the Lakers to win the West with Golden State on the prowl, and Houston are unlikely to take a step backwards either.

    And if his son remains in LA, how long will James happily tolerate the manchild that is LaVar Ball?

    Definitely a work in progress that might take at least a couple of years to come good.

    Dislike the story? Don't comment

  • Comment posted by Johnyoung, at 14:08 10 Jul 2018

    @37, what a laughable comment! Lebron James is maybe the greatest athlete of our generation. Nobody cares if Arsenal have signed some unknown CB for 16m. This news trumps anything the EPL could, especially in the summer.

  • Comment posted by U16978143, at 12:51 10 Jul 2018

    @GrammarFreak do you have the research to back up your ridiculous comment? Basketball is LOVED in this country by many people.
    And as for you @MichaelLong you clearly have no idea what Sport is if you are comparing basketball to netball. Why don't you educate yourself a bit and watch a new sport rather than just watching Snooker all the time.

  • Comment posted by hattersup, at 14:01 10 Jul 2018

    6. Posted by GrammarFreak on
    2 hours ago
    Of Zero interest to 99.999% of the UK population

    Regular basketball players in the UK comparable to Rugby and Cricket (source: Sport England). NBA UK Facebook page as almost 1.5m followers. EFL page has 1m followers.

    Don't forget there's a whole country outside of your little bubble.

  • Comment posted by Brian Boru, at 22:43 10 Jul 2018

    @ 57 BBC61 "people are forced by law to pay for … BBC licence fee) and are therefore as customers are entitled to comment on ANY HYS they feel fit"

    That's not correct. Non-customers are also perfectly entitled, it's the internet.

    But being 'entitled' doesn't mean you're welcome to spoil things for people who are interested in a particular HYS. That's decency, very different from entitlement.

  • Comment posted by Brian Boru, at 22:38 10 Jul 2018

    @ 58 Fakenews "It’s basketball, nobody cares"

    So what's the #2 sport in the world?

    Interesting article on that point:
    https://www.totalsportek.com/most-popular-sports/

    Football
    Basketball
    Cricket
    Tennis
    Athletics

    Rugby
    Formula 1
    Boxing
    Ice Hockey
    Volleyball

    Golf
    Baseball
    American Football
    MMA
    MotoGP

    Field Hockey
    Badminton
    Cycling
    Swimming
    Snooker

  • Comment posted by Stuart Boxall, at 16:07 10 Jul 2018

    @42. Exactly right. I've supported Man United all my life and the Lakers for 30 years and LBJ coming to the Lakers is exactly like Messi joining Man United....A massive, massive event in World sports. I'm so excited for next NBA season.

  • Comment posted by cyclingj, at 14:59 10 Jul 2018

    I enjoy sports other than the main 3 usually reported in UK. My problem with this article is that it lacks context. I’ve heard of both LeBron James and LA Lakers but all I know from this story is that he will be paid a lot and that the owner of the team is pleased.

  • Comment posted by llc12, at 13:26 10 Jul 2018

    One of the biggest athletes on the globe going to one of the biggest sportsteams on the globe and people whine about it not being news...

    Curious to see how this season unfolds. As presently constructed, the Lakers roster is far from being able to compete for a Championship.

    LeBron has historically found success when being surrounded with shooters...which the Lakers don't have.

  • Comment posted by jamelie, at 17:22 10 Jul 2018

    @37 looks like you small minded views are not shared by everyone, what a surprise

  • Comment posted by Bore-Bore-2, at 16:33 10 Jul 2018

    Hope he finally ends the GSW dominance of the Western Conference... needs a bit more support than he had in Cleveland though.

    Ps. While I agree the article lacks a bit of context, if you don't know much about him/ NBA... use this thing called Google...

  • Comment posted by pinewood, at 16:03 10 Jul 2018

    If by knowing nothing about the game I know he is big news, then he must be really big news.

  • Comment posted by Costas, at 15:20 10 Jul 2018

    It's good to love your country and what happens in it.But there is a globe around us. So one talking of Le Bron and the NBA should demonstrate the deserved respect.

  • Comment posted by Shaibal, at 11:41 10 Jul 2018

    Both 'an historic' and a historic' are acceptable in modern use. A great player joining a great team, I think that is what we should be focusing on.

  • Comment posted by whataguy, at 16:33 10 Jul 2018

    Trouble with basketball is they score to often for it to be interesting. BBC can report what they like however. Don’t have a problem with that, I only go on the sports section however. The rest is garbage

  • Comment posted by fcportoclay, at 13:47 10 Jul 2018

    The guys final's record would be alot better imo if he didnt have to face a team of allstar's every year.

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