LeBron James Drops Blunt Admission About Taking Lakers Pay Cut

Ultimately, LeBron James took the pay cut he promised for the Los Angeles Lakers. This amounted to approximately $2.7 million after LeBron agreed to sign a non-max deal worth $101.35 million over two years.

For their part, though, the Lakers have failed in their pursuit of the big-name free agents they were targeting, with the likes of Klay Thompson and James Harden already off the board.

Be that as it may, all hope is not lost for the Lakers. LeBron himself knows that his decision to take less money in his new deal will ultimately help the team's cause:

"LeBron James says he took less money to get the Lakers under the second apron because, when you’re in a relationship, there are things you have to do sometimes, and he wanted to make sure they had more flexibility to alter the roster," wrote ESPN insider Tim Bontemps on X, formerly Twitter.

This is James acknowledging that he's making a financial sacrifice for the good of the team. At the end of the day, $2.7 million isn't a huge deal for LeBron, but it's a major development for the Lakers in terms of, as the NBA's all-time leading scorer said, having "more flexibility" to make the necessary additions to their roster.

Despite their recent shortcomings, you can be sure that the Lakers will remain active in the market ahead of the new season.

Related: LeBron James' New Lakers Contract Gets Last-Minute Twist