It remains to be seen if LeBron James will continue his career as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, but he's certainly not being forced out of the organization.
During his season-ending media availability after the Lakers were swept in the Western Conference semifinals by the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka made it clear that the Lakers would welcome James back with open arms, should he want to remain in L.A.
Rob Pelinka says Lakers would 'love' to have LeBron James on the roster next season
Pelinka expressed gratitude for all that James has done for the Lakers and said that the organization plans to "honor" him in return.
"We probably haven't seen a player that has honored the game to the extent that he's honored the game. He's given so much to his teammates, to this organization. And the thing we want to do more than anything else is honor him back," Pelinka said of James.
"Of course, any team, including ours, would love to have LeBron James on their roster," Pelinka said. "That's a blessing in itself just with what he does."
Pelinka plans to give James all of the time and space that he needs to make any major decisions regarding his future.
"The first order of business there is allowing him to spend the time he needs to decide what his next steps are," Pelinka said. "Does he want to play another year in the NBA? And that'll be [decided through] family time, I think time with his inner circle. And we just want to honor that for him."
This story will be updated.
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