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Dave McMenamin
The second, Calif. – While LeBron James enters his eighth season with the Los Angeles Lakers in a contract year, coach JJ Redick’s future with the team is much more clear after being signed to an extension.
The lack of a long-term pact between the Lakers and the 40-year-old James, who in June picked up the $52.6 million option for the 2025-26 season, has fueled speculation about the superstar’s future with the team set to open training camp next week.
Rob Pelinka, president of basketball operations and general manager, insisted Thursday that the Lakers hope to remain in the LeBron business as long as the four-time champion wants to be with them.
“The first thing we want to do in terms of LeBron and his future is just give him absolute respect to choose his story with his family in terms of how many years he’s going to continue to play,” Pelinka said at his season-opening news conference. “He’s earned that right.”
Pelinka said the Lakers built a “really competitive, strong team” with which to win for both James and Luka Doncic.
The GM said he would defer to James, who is entering a record-setting 23rd season, on questions about how much longer he intended to play before retiring. The team’s media day is Monday.
Pelinka was then asked if the Lakers would be interested in re-signing James in the summer of 2026, if he decided at that point he wanted to extend his career.
“We would love if LeBron’s story would be he retired a Laker,” Pelinka said, echoing a sentiment he has shared before. “That would be a positive story.”
While James’ future remains in flux, Pelinka announced the team’s commitment to Redick, its second-year coach who signed a four-year deal in June 2024. Though terms of the new deal were not announced, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania that it was a multiyear extension.
“Just to make it clear that he’s the basketball leader in terms of our coaching and on-court performance,” Pelinka said of the motivation to extend Redick after he won 50 games and secured the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference in his first season as coach.
Pelinka said the decision came down to “confidence and belief” in the former 15-year NBA veteran, who joined the Lakers without previous head coaching experience.
“We think he’s a special coach with a special voice that’s really helping us define the culture of Lakers excellence,” Pelinka said. “We just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what we’re going to lean into and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.”
Redick expressed gratitude to Pelinka, Lakers acting governor Jeanie Buss and new Lakers owner Mark Walter for the opportunity.
“It’s not lost on me, this sort of rarity of a first-time head coach getting an extension,” Redick said Thursday. “I recognize how fortunate I am to be in an organization that supports me in that way.”
Redick spoke about connecting with James and Doncic during the summer and expressed confidence in both of them coming into the season.
“[James is] in a great spot mentally and know he’s going to give us his absolute best,” Redick said. “… I expect the best version of Luka, and it’s my job as a coach to bring that out on a daily basis.”
Redick offered less clarity on the players who will surround the star tandem, with no announcement about the rest of his starters the way he did a year ago.
“It’s not that important to me,” Redick said when asked about the starters. “I haven’t spent a ton of time thinking about it. We certainly have a number of players — seven or eight starter-level players in the NBA. I do know this: I did say that last year. And that starting lineup started eight games together to start the season and we started 24 lineups throughout the year.
“Not going to spend too much time banging my head against the wall on that before we have a practice.”
