Yang Yi of the United States said that James must leave the Lakers to win the championship

According to Goldwin Matthew, a reporter from the US sports media NBA Analysis Network. Stephen Smith, known as Yang Yi in the United States, made a major statement about James' possibility of leaving the Lakers winning the championship with another team.

The 40-year-old chose the player option on the Lakers’ contract, which led many to believe he might leave the team.

He has ties to the Dallas Mavericks and even other Eastern Conference teams, but the four-time champion seems likely to end the 2025-26 season as the Lakers.

However, ESPN analyst Stephen Smith said it would only make sense for LeBron James to move to another team because he has a greater chance of winning the championship there.

SAS believes James has a greater chance of winning the championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers

James won his only championship with the Lakers in 2020, and has not been smooth in the playoffs since.

His agent Ritchie Paul issued a statement announcing his opt-in, where he said the 21st-time All-Star hopes to continue to compete for the championship while he is still playing.

Although the Lakers have made good moves, Smith revealed that joining the Cleveland Cavaliers will give James a better chance to win everything.

He said: "I think brother, you've reached the point where you're worth it, why don't you go back to Cleveland to end your career?

" It's indisputable. He has a better chance to win the championship in Cleveland.

"The road through the Western Conference was hard to say the least. In the Eastern Conference, a new coach in New York had questioned their depth. Damian Lillard was no longer in Milwaukee. He was back in Portland. So how did you help Giannis?

"Jason Tatum was missing this year with a torn Achilles tendon...Halliburton was absent this year.

James has four championships and is already one of the best players of the league's history, but winning the championship again will put him alongside players like Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.

"You bring the chips back to Cleveland, and you say goodbye, tied five-time champions Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and the staff.

"If you stay in Los Angeles, this won't happen because you won't come out of the West," Smith added.

The Cavaliers will have to give up a lot when trading James

James is arguably one of the best players in the Cavaliers' history because he was in 2016 Leading the Cavaliers to the only championship in 2018. The game in Cleveland will be the perfect farewell for the Kings of James, but a lot of things must be done for that. The Cavaliers will have to give up a lot of their assets to get the last year of his career. This will hinder their development for a few years, and their management doesn't seem to take any action.

They are more than happy to welcome him to join the team as a free agent, which can only happen next year unless he agrees to a buyout with the Lakers, but this is unlikely to happen.