LeBron James’s agent Richie Paul has told the Miami Heat his player will exercise an early termination option and become an unrestricted free agent, ESPN reported yesterday.
Four-times National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player James had until June 30 to decide whether to opt out of the final two years of his contract.
He was due to earn $20 million next season. Qualified players become free agents on July 1.
The decision allows James to explore his options, including signing a new deal with the Heat where he has played in four successive NBA Finals, earning two titles since joining them as a free agent in 2010 after seven seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The announcement came one day after fellow All-Star Carmelo Anthony opted out of the final year of his deal with the New York Knicks to test free agency.
Anthony was due to earn $23.5 million with the Knicks.
James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Miami’s ‘Big Three’ who signed together as free agents, are coming off a five-game loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.
In contrast, San Antonio’s evergreen power forward Tim Duncan, 38, decided late on Monday to continue for an 18th campaign with the Spurs by exercising his $10.3 million option for next season.
Judge seeks more info in Sterling competency case
A California judge said Monday he wanted more information before deciding if the dispute between Donald and Shelly Sterling over the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers was a court matter.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas said Sterling family trust documents indicate that once he receives testimony of at least two doctors saying Donald Sterling is mentally incapacitated, the $2 billion sale of the club to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer can go ahead.
Donald Sterling, who was banned from the NBA and fined $2 million after racially charged remarks he made to a girlfriend became public in April, is trying to block the sale negotiated by his wife, with the case tentatively set to go to trial on July 7.
Shelly Sterling has argued that she was authorized to take control of the trust and arrange the sale after two doctors found her 80-year-old husband to be incapacitated—and that the findings of those two doctors are enough for Levanas to rule on. Attorneys for Donald Sterling, however, said a provision of the trust that allows outside evidence—including rebuttal testimony from other doctors—was inadvertently removed last year.