Suns Guard Weighs In on LeBron James' Decision To Leave Lakers in Free Agency

LeBron James is leaving the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency.

It's arguably the biggest news of the NBA offseason thus far, so understandably it's catching the attention of many players, former and current.

This includes retired Phoenix Suns guard and Sixth Man of the Year Eddie Johnson, who reacted to the news of James' departure from Los Angeles on social media.

"Historically when Lebron James leaves an organization, it goes backwards," Johnson posted. "Do you notice other key role players decide to leave? Its simple, a majority of players trust playing with him. The Laker Front office will pay a price along with a fan base that wanted him gone. Good luck."

The Lakers have lost a couple of key role players already this summer in Marcus Smart to the Houston Rockets and Luke Kennard to the Suns. It's also likely they'll lose forward Rui Hachimura.

However, L.A.'s front office has also been busy making moves by re-signing star Austin Reaves and most recently trading for and extending former Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler.

Johnson's take on the situation is fair, as players do certainly gravitate toward playing alongside James. However, the Lakers are home to a player with similar appeal in Luka Doncic. It's simply a new era in Los Angeles, but that is not a negative. Losing the key player to a championship team is never easy, but for a Lakers team that lucked out by acquiring Doncic at last year's trade deadline, they'll be just fine.

No one is quite sure where James will end up playing what is likely his final year(s) in the league, but the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, and Cleveland Cavaliers appear to be the frontrunners. Despite these three organizations being the most common in rumors, ESPN's Shams Charania reported James is open to pitches from any contending team.

Unfortunately for Johnson, it's unlikely his former team, the Suns, will get involved. 

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Anthony Pasciolla is the publisher of SunsRoundtable. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or followed on X @AnthonyPasci.