Wen Pang: The Lakers may have rejected James s request for many years of contract to ensure his salary in the past two years

ESPN's famous reporter Vincenter hinted that the Lakers may have rejected James' multi-year contract request.

Vinhorst recently spoke publicly about the Lakers on a show and suggested that the Lakers rejected him despite requests for a renewal. Vincenter hinted that while the future Hall of Famer may have another way out, James did ask for a contract extension to stay with the Lakers for many years. The ESPN reporter also claimed that the Lakers are taking measures to protect their salary, not only in 2027, but also in 2026.

Venthorst said: "I know some people have always believed that the Lakers regard 2027 as a free agent year. In fact, their actions show that the team is also paying attention to 2026."

"LeBron James said very clearly that they did not ask for a contract renewal. I doubt that they asked the team to renew the contract and that they wanted it to renew the contract are actually two different things. "I 'm skeptical of that. Whether they asked for it or whether they wanted it are two different things.."

"So, you know, there are a lot of things about quotes, asking prices, etc., but long story short, the Lakers did not sign next year's contract with LeBron, and the contract they signed before was equivalent to having guaranteed their salary next year." Venthorst added.