Jeanie Buss considers LeBron James’ contract ‘bargain’ for Lakers

Despite LeBron James’ massive contract, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss still feels he is not getting paid anywhere near what he is worth in an open market.

LeBron James had an opportunity to end his playing days in Los Angeles and go to another contender this summer. While he did opt out of his contract with the Lakers, he ultimately signed a two-year $101.355 million deal. Those numbers were slightly less than the max, allowing the Lakers to avoid the second tax apron and opening up the $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception for the franchise.

Still, at nearly $49 million a year, this makes the 39-year-old LeBron the highest-paid player on the team. He’s coming fresh off of some very intense basketball play with Team USA, where he won the gold for America, beating France and being named the 2024 FIBA Olympics MVP.

With so much wear and tear on his body and still deciding to play for the USA this summer, how does Lakers owner Jeanie Buss feel about him participating in such summer events and paying the oldest player in the NBA so much money?

Jeanie Buss appeared on the Petros and Money show and discussed her feelings on these topics.

“He’s so competitive, it’s really got to be something that he wants to do and we always support our players in the decisions that they make in regards to playing for their national team or not” Buss said. “And you know it was something that was important to LeBron. And yes, he is, you know, our highest-paid player, but he’s still a bargain to me... because we’re a salary cap league, there’s only so much that we can pay him.

“He brings us the notoriety in the league, but also internationally. He’s a huge star and he’s a great leader for this team and what he does for our young players, what he does for the community, we’re proud to be partners with him. It’s the same as you know, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant you know, because we’re in a capped league, you know, they probably should have been paid twice as what they get, but you know, we can only pay him the maximum.”

Of course, Jeanie would approve of LeBron James playing for Team USA. Representing the country is a patriotic and selfless gesture and is a tremendous honor.

Her words on LeBron’s contract, however, were interesting. It does not happen every day that an owner claims a $49 million-a-year player is a deal, but she is right. LeBron was the fourth highest-paid player globally in 2023, but the players in front of him were all soccer players who don’t play in leagues with salary cap restrictions.

If LeBron could go to the highest bidder, his contract would be much higher, likely somewhere near $100 million per year.

It’s hard to quantify how much LeBron does for your brand. Yes, the Lakers are one of the most iconic franchises, but you remain that way by winning and associating yourself with the best in the game.

The Lakers accomplished both by partnering with LeBron. They earned a title in 2020 and have had historic moments, like James breaking the all-time scoring record. Even his Olympic run is free publicity for the Lakers.

Now, when you think of LeBron, you think of the Lakers. And given all his notoriety, that’s a good name to be associated with. It’s one of the reasons the Lakers will be on national television more than any other NBA team despite being nowhere close to being title favorites.

That notoriety and national exposure is hard to quantify, but it’s certainly worth more than the $100 million they’re paying LeBron to help sustain it.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.