Even though his failure to achieve satisfying results in the playoffs over the past few years had begun to raise doubts about his ability to lead a team.
The results of this year's All-Star voting still made it clear that LeBron James wielded enormous influence in the league.
His influence in the media and society at large truly went far beyond that of an ordinary star.
At the same time, however, one unchangeable fact remained: LeBron James was a thirty-nine-year-old veteran.
Even with his historically exceptional resistance to injury and unparalleled career longevity.
At thirty-nine, it was difficult to convince some teams that he could still carry them, or that he was still worth a max contract.
At the end of the day, business was business.
What's more, James came with another hidden concern: his tendency to potentially meddle with management, exert pressure, and steer the team's trades, along with the lofty goals and demanding expectations that came with his continued pursuit of a championship.
All those factors made it extremely difficult for the Lakers to trade James.
Perhaps they could only wait until his contract expired that summer before formally bidding farewell to the legendary forward and going their separate ways...
Who knew whether the front office now regretted its decision to bring in that superstar all those summers ago?
"If we'd known Chris would ask for a trade later, who would've gone all out chasing LeBron?!!"
Time ticked away, bringing the official trade deadline closer and closer.
Yet no new reports emerged, leaving plenty of fans both excited and disappointed.
They were still holding out hope for a possible blockbuster deal at the very last second before the deadline, while inevitably feeling frustrated with certain teams that had yet to make a move...
Finally, three o'clock on