LeBron James has agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension through the 2024-25 season with the Los Angeles Lakers. (PHOTO / AP)

LOS ANGELES－LeBron James has agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension through the 2024-25 season with the Los Angeles Lakers, his agent announced Wednesday.

Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul said the league-maximum deal makes James the highest-paid player in NBA history. His new deal includes a player option that would keep the second-leading scorer in NBA history with the Lakers past his 40th birthday in December 2024.

The 37-year-old James is headed into the final year of his most recent contract with the Lakers, who signed the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player and four-time league champion in July 2018. The new deal means the 18-time All-Star will make $46.7 million this season.

Barring injury, James is likely to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's career scoring king this winter. James and the Lakers also hope to be in contention for another title if James and Anthony Davis can return at full health after an injury-plagued 2021-22 campaign ended without a playoff appearance.

James' new deal syncs with Davis' most recent contract extension with the Lakers, allowing both to leave the Lakers or to negotiate new deals in 2024. Both superstars are represented by Klutch.

James' recommitment to the Lakers also silences persistent talk of his possible departure as a free agent or in a trade. James hasn't appeared to be going anywhere on social media or in his public appearances, and he praised the hiring of new Lakers coach Darvin Ham.

James has missed significant portions of the season due to injury in three of his four years with the Lakers. He was largely healthy in the elongated 2019-20 season when the Lakers won the franchise's 17th NBA title in the Florida bubble, and he has been every bit the dominant player of his prime when at full strength in the ensuing two years.

Although his contract status inspired plenty of offseason chatter, James seemed unlikely to relocate after spending the past four seasons of his 19-year career with the storied Lakers. His family is settled in Los Angeles, where his eldest son, Bronny, is a 17-year-old senior and college basketball prospect playing at Sierra Canyon High School in Chatsworth.

Gasol honored

Nearly a full year after retiring from basketball after 18 NBA seasons, which included back-to-back championships with the Lakers, the team announced Wednesday that it will retire Pau Gasol's No 16 in March.

Gasol, who turned 42 last month, will have his number raised to the rafters at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles as the Lakers host Gasol's first team in the league－the Memphis Grizzlies－on March 7.

Gasol will become the 11th Lakers player to have his number retired, and the fourth center along with Hall of Famers Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal and Wilt Chamberlain.

"Beyond thankful and honored!!!" Gasol posted on Twitter in response.

The 7-foot-1 (2.16-meter) Spanish native announced his retirement last October after a decorated career that included six All-Star Game selections, three of those with the Lakers. He was the No 3 overall selection of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks but was dealt to the Grizzlies on draft day.

After averaging 18.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in his seven-plus seasons in Memphis, a trade-deadline deal shipping him to the Lakers in February 2008 altered the course of the league－and the Lakers. Gasol teamed with Kobe Bryant, whose shirt numbers 8 and 24 also are retired by the team, to lead LA to three straight NBA Finals trips from 2008-10, winning the title in 2009 and 2010.

In 1,226 career NBA games (1,150 starts), he averaged 17.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in playing for the Grizzlies (2001-08), Lakers (2008-14), Chicago Bulls (2014-16), San Antonio Spurs (2016-19) and Milwaukee Bucks (2019).

Gasol is one of just four NBA players to record more than 20,000 points, 11,000 rebounds, 3,500 assists and 1,500 blocks in a career, joining Lakers legend Abdul-Jabbar and Hall of Famers Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.