According to a report on Feb. 11, ESPN's Zach Lowe talked about James' career plans, mainly whether he will leave the Lakers. Before the trade deadline, there was grapevine that the Lakers wanted to trade James. This could scare the Lakers, who would love James to retire with the Lakers. James will next score his 40,000th point, and if the Lakers can host this historic milestone, they will go down in history.
ESPN's Zach Lowe thinks James won't leave the Lakers because he's already winning a championship with the Lakers. The name first issued a "disclaimer" saying that he couldn't pat his chest and say he knew what James wanted to do next. But he thinks some of the rumors are unrealistic, such as the 76ers have room and James could request a trade. Zach Lowe said he didn't get such news, and he thinks James wants to retire with the Lakers.
Zach Lowe said James could leave the Lakers if they didn't win the championship in 2020. But James has already won his fourth championship (and fourth FMVP) with the Lakers, and also won the championship for the Lakers. So he can accept that the Lakers were a good team before the Lakers retired, but not a strong team. Zach Lowe said that if you ask the people around James, you will know that the 2020 championship has changed the outside world's perception of James' career with the Lakers, and also changed the outside world's perception of James' future in the Lakers.