James refuses to cut salary! Lakers salary management collapses in the new season, and the bubble of superstars will eventually break

When salary cuts became a joke, the James team used a rejection order to break through the last emperor's new clothes of the Lakers' management. LeBron James' team rejected the Lakers' request for a $15 million salary cut, and a statement broke the Lakers' seemingly gorgeous championship declaration like a knife. This is not the first time James has sacrificed for the team. Last year, he just cut his salary by 3 million and helped the Lakers escape the punishment of the second rich line, which is in return for the embarrassing ending of Pelinka's failure in the free market. What is even more ironic is that the latest script of the arithmetic geniuses of the Lakers management is to exchange James's 15 million salary cut for 14.1 million middle-class special case. The surface of opening up space actually triggers a new round of salary punishment, strengthening it into a death cycle that can drink poison to quench thirst.

The "exquisite" calculations of the Lakers' management exposed the deep deformed structure. The request for James to cut his salary by 15 million is just to unlock the 14.1 million middle-class special case, which is essentially a zero-sum game for cutting out flesh and sucking sores. Even if James compromises, the Lakers' salary will still hit the red line of the second rich line. The nightmare that triggered the penalty clause followed, with packaged transactions prohibited, special cases of middle-class people shrinking, buyout market bans, and all reinforcement channels were completely welded to death. What's even more absurd is the chain of salary structure. Reeves' request for an annual salary of 30 million is unresolved. Doncic's super maximum salary in 2026 is like the sword of Damocles. When 39-year-old James cut his salary and had to bear the reputation of "hindering the reinforcement", the Pelinka team used a math problem to complete the magic of transferring responsibility.

NBA's new version of the labor-management agreement is like a precision cage. The Lakers surpassed the luxury tax line by 17.5 million and became the "second tyrant tax team". The three major lifelines of middle-class special cases, cash transactions, and buyout markets were cut off by one-size-fits-all lifeline. Lakers reporter Jowan Buha's research is directly at the core. Even if the rotation player renews the contract with Reeves and Hachimura Shiraki, the Lakers' salary bomb will still detonate when Doncic's maximum salary comes into effect in 2026. The teams in the league collectively fell into a reinforcing dead end. The Timberwolves' maximum salary crushed the salary structure, and the deadlock for Reed's contract renewal reflects the survival squeeze of the role players; the Suns' Durant Booker-Bill's salary has exploded 150 million, but even the playoff tickets are difficult to guarantee. When superstars' salary expansion speed exceeds the salary cap increase, the middle class trap becomes a collective epitaph of the wealthy families. The Lakers management's "both wants and wants" strategy has buried the root of the disaster early. Last year's offseason, Pelinka shouted to compete for the championship, but refused to package the draft pick and trade Murray. She chose Knector, who needs to be trained for a long time, with the No. 17 draw. It requires both the current combat power of 40-year-old James and the future potential of Reeves - this strategic greed is exactly the same as the Soha Westbrook deal in 2021. James' willingness to cut his salary was once a real lifeline. He publicly stated that he would cut his salary by nearly 20 million and pursued Harden and Thompson-level stars, and even joked that "the money was enough for his grandson to spend it." However, when the Lakers exchanged his sacrifice for Christie's premium contract renewal and allowed Prince to join the Bucks at a basic salary, trust capital completely evaporated in the absurd operation. The Lakers dilemma is a pathological section of the entire league. After the Timberwolves paid four first-round picks for the three giants Edwards Towns Gobert, Reed's contract renewal tug-of-war exposed the middle-class fault; the Knicks bet on Bridges to form a four-star lineup, but it laid the hidden danger of no first-round picks in the next three years. For teams whose superstar salary accounts for more than 70%, role players will inevitably become basic lottery. The punitive clauses of the new version of the labor agreement are like chemotherapy, burning the over-stacked team's body without discrimination. The Lakers are the most tragic microcosm. Doncic + James' salary is full of salary cap, but they have to pay luxury tax in exchange for a playoff marginal seat.

The rejection of the James team is far beyond the salary game. When the Lakers tried to package the salary cut as a "championship action", the former leader of the player union refused to resist moral kidnapping. He was fully confident to ask for a maximum salary: he was still selected as the second team of the All-American team at the age of 39, ranked sixth in the MVP vote, and the defensive transformation results far exceeded expectations. Accepting a salary cut is equivalent to denying one's own value, and it will also open Pandora's box for salary suppression for veterans in the league. The deeper resistance lies in the trial of management incompetence. The 3 million salary cut last year was not the return of Capela or Clarkston, but the statement of "small business" by the female boss Jenny Bass. When Pelinka turned the championship slogan into a footnote to the financial statements, James' rejection was actually a tribute to the dignity of the championship. 17 championship flags hanging from the center dome of Staples, Los Angeles, are covered in dust. James' tough attitude of refusing to cut salary is like a searchlight that pierces the Lakers' strategic illusion of "both wanted and want" - when Pelinka tries to solve basketball problems with accounting, the cruel formula of competitive sports has already written the ending. When the Timberwolves drove Naz Reed's 20 million annual salary, and when the Suns' Big Three's first round game bill reached 192 million, the superstar bubble of the entire league heard the death knell in the countdown to the Lakers' salary bomb.

The only certain thing is that James' letter of rejection will become the first boundary marker in the new era of labor-management negotiations, engraved with a more eternal proposition than the championship - when business logic swallows up competitive dignity, rejection is the last guard of glory.