Latest Star Contract Extension Shows LeBron James What Sacrifice Looks Like

The Los Angeles Lakers have had an underwhelming offseason thus far. Instead of adding some difference-makers to help improve their chances of being serious title contenders, they only re-signed LeBron James and drafted Dalton Knecht and Bronny James.

In their defense, it's tough to add quality playmakers when you have two max players on the books and two players who are inconsistent (D'Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura) making at least $17 million.

James and the Lakers agreed to terms on a two-year, $104 million deal to stay in the City of Angels. We know that he's one of the greatest players in the history of the game and deserves every penny. But at this stage of his career, you might think that he would be open to taking a pay cut to build a great roster around him. That wasn't the case in Los Angeles but that's exactly what Jalen Brunson did with the New York Knicks.

NBA News: Jalen Brunson Took a Massive Paycut

On July 12, Brunson and the Knicks agreed to terms on a four-year, $156.5 million extension. If he waited one more year, he would have been eligible for a five-year, $269.1 million deal. Instead, he decided to take less to give the Knicks more flexibility to build a contender around him.

When you see something like this, it makes you think as a Lakers fan. Why didn't LeBron do something similar? Across his career, James has earned around $530 million with his on-court earnings, making him the first player in NBA history to eclipse the $500 million mark.

James gave a shortlist of players to the Lakers, that included Klay Thompson, Jonas Valanciunas, James Harden, and DeMar DeRozan. He was willing to take a pay cut if Los Angeles was able to land one of these guys but that never happened. Instead, he locked in another massive deal, making things harder for the Lakers to build a serious contender around him.

Sports greats like Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, and Tim Duncan have all taken pay cuts during their careers to help maximize the talent around the team. Now Brunson has followed in these footsteps.

This is something that LeBron should have seriously considered. I know, who am I to tell someone to take less money?

But at this point in his career, it's natural to ask why didn't James take less to give himself another crack at adding more talent to make a run at another NBA title.

Brunson showed the four-time NBA champion what it looks like to make a financial sacrifice. Let's see how things unfold for New York but on paper, they are loaded and should be title contenders.

As for the Lakers, they still have a lot of work to do.

More Lakers news and rumors: