LeBron has been walking back his All-Star Weekend interview for months

During All-Star Weekend in Cleveland last year, LeBron James gave an interview where he expressed frustration at the disappointing Los Angeles Lakers season. He praised the Cavaliers, said “the door’s not closed” on a return to Cleveland and talked about being “free” from the Lakers. 

He also said, “My last year will be played with my son. Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year.” Ever since, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, LeBron has been trying to back away from that statement.

In an appearance on “The Bill Simmons Podcast”, Windhorst said the interview was “the most out of pocket I’ve seen him in 24 years of covering LeBron.” Before last year's trade deadline, LeBron tried to get the Lakers to deal first-round picks - both passive-aggressively and then aggressive-aggressively - with tweets and post-game comments. When he doubled down by suggesting he’d return to Cleveland a third time, the Lakers were so unhappy they called for a two-hour sit down with James and agent Rich Paul.

Windhorst, author of three books about James, has been covering LeBron since he was a high schooler in Akron. He believes that LeBron has no interest in leaving Los Angeles, where his family and his business interests are. So when he signed an extension through 2024, it was in a way, repairing some of the damage from that All-Star weekend interview.

In the past, LeBron has been able to put pressure on teams with the implied threat he could leave whenever his contract was up. He signed a short rookie extension in Cleveland in 2006, two years less than the maximum length, to become a free agent earlier. When he returned to the Cavs in 2014, James played on a series of short contracts with opt-outs nearly every summer. According to Windhorst, a proposed Kyrie Irving-Paul George trade was scuttled in 2017, because Cleveland wouldn't trade an unprotected pick for fear LeBron would leave during the summer of 2018. (LeBron did leave, and the pick became All-Star guard Darius Garland, so the Cavs were proven right.)

James also seems to be backing off the idea that he'd play with his son in 2024. In a Sports Illustrated profile, he said, "I like to throw things out in the airwaves, but I’m not one to [say] what’s going to happen in the next two to three years. I am a visionary, but I’m also a guy that lives in the moment." His wife Savannah confirmed this wasn't a family plan: "No, we hadn’t talked about it," she said.

Windhorst believes that LeBron committing to at least two more years with the Lakers could convince GM Rob Pelinka to include the team's 2027 and 2029 first-round picks in a deal, perhaps in a Russell Westbrook deal. If nothing else, the stability should at least reduce the drama from last year's chaotic season.