Gary Payton Says LeBron James Will Retire with Lakers amid Warriors Trade Rumors

LeBron James has called a few places home during his NBA career, but Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton believes Los Angeles will be his final destination.

"LeBron did what he wanted—[what] he was supposed to. He said, 'I'm staying where I'm at,'" Payton said, per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. "He's been traveling too many times, been to Cleveland, you know. He been to Miami, went back to Cleveland. This is his last stop, man."

One team James was linked to was the Golden State Warriors, who reportedly made a covert bid to acquire the Los Angeles Lakers star at the deadline, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne. James and his camp, however, squashed any pursuit before negotiations could truly get underway.

And in Payton's opinion, such a deal wouldn't have been worth it for the Warriors.

"Golden State would have to give up everybody. So you only would have been playing with [LeBron] and probably Curry," Payton said, per Goodwill."They'd have to give up their whole team. They would have been only LeBron and Curry."

James has remained a dominant force in 2023-24, averaging 24.8 points, 7.8 assists and 7.2 rebounds in 49 games.

However, the Lakers currently sit in ninth place in the Western Conference and have underachieved after last season's run to the Western Conference Finals.