According to the press release, Shen will oversee all financial aspects of the Lakers, shaping strategic growth, driving profitability and creating continued value for the global franchise. In a related move, Joe McCormack will shift to an executive advisory role as Senior Vice President of Finance for the Lakers.

Shen joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016 and has held a variety of strategic roles across the organization in both business and basketball operations. Most recently, Shen served as the Lakers Associate Chief Financial Officer.

“Elaine Shen is an exceptional leader and catalyst for success,” said Los Angeles Lakers President of Business Operations Lon Rosen in a statement. “She brings an artful and considerate approach to every table, combined with the ability to build consensus and make tough decisions. Elaine is a trusted advisor and the perfect modern CFO to help lead the next stage of transformation for the Los Angeles Lakers.”

Before being hired by the Lakers, Shen worked at Aon and Wachovia Bank. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and earned her Master of Business Administration at UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Under new majority owner Mark Walter, the Lakers have completely overhauled the organization on the business side with Rosen leading the way. They recently hired Yao Williams II to be their vice president and head of global partnerships.

Changes are also expected to come on the basketball operations side as they notably are adding two assistant general managers this offseason. They already hired one in Rohan Ramadas to help on the data and analytics side and still are on the search for the second one to help with player evaluation and development.

Lakers announce multiyear partnership with Daiso

The Lakers also recently announced a multiyear partnership with the Japanese retail company Daiso, whose logo will be included on the Laker Girls uniform during select regular season games for the first time in franchise history.

“We are thrilled to welcome Daiso to the Los Angeles Lakers family with an innovative partnership that connects the retailer to the Laker Girls,” said Rosen in a statement. “Recognized as the premier sports entertainment team, the Laker Girls have both a global and local appeal that connects Daiso to one of the most influential and memorable elements of the Lakers gameday experience.”

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James hasn’t even announced that he will be playing in 2026-27, although all indications are that he will return for a 24th NBA season. Where that will be remains to be seen as James has made it clear that he still wants to compete for championships.

Even though he is still playing at a high level, James may need to take a significant pay cut with the Lakers or elsewhere if he wants to have a chance at a fifth ring. Reports have indicated that the 41-year-old wouldn’t be willing to do that elsewhere, and in an interview with Sean Gregory of Time Magazine, James was also asked if he would take a pay cut to stay with the Lakers:

James appears in no rush to decide on next season. While Bronny remains under contract with the Lakers for at least one more year, his dad is entering free agency. But when asked if he’d take a discount to come back to L.A. and give the team more financial flexibility, James declined to comment.

James also talked about what his decision will come down to this offseason:

“It’s up to the mind,” says James, 41. “Where the mind goes, the body will lay. When I’m not in love with getting to the arenas on game days five hours before to start my preparation, if I’m out of love with getting to practice 2½ hours beforehand, then I know I’ll be done. Because then I’m going to start cheating the game.”

James has always been known for his work ethic and dedication to the game, which is why he has been able to maintain an exceptional level of play for longer than any player in history.

What LeBron James wants from Lakers before making decision

According to recent reports, James wants the Lakers to lay out their offseason plans for him before he decides if he would be willing to take a significant pay cut.

If there are moves to be made that would vault the Lakers to championship contender status, then perhaps James would be willing to play ball and take less money. If not though, then he knows what he’s worth, which could make for an interesting negotiating process considering there aren’t other contenders out there with significant cap space.

At the end of the day, James’ decision could come down to taking the mid-level exception of around $15 million to play elsewhere, or returning to the Lakers for a little bit more than that so they could make other moves to improve the roster.

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In 1998, the Lakers were swept in the Western Conference Finals by the Utah Jazz and during the final contest of the series, Van Exel broke one huddle by saying “1-2-3 Cancun.” And he recently spoke on how that came about, and that he feels the team used him as a scapegoat in that moment.

“When we play Utah in the playoffs we get down 3-0,” Van Exel said during an appearance on the Out The Mud podcast. “Like come on, man, ain’t nobody winning 3-0, we ain’t coming back. We see [players] now and we know, they basically saying ‘1-2-3 Cancun’ without saying ‘1-2-3 Cancun.’ Their body is saying it.

“But I was the cat on the team that, when s— was f—– up, I’m calling the team meeting like let’s get together. Let’s do whatever. I was the dude that was doing this with the team. And I knew, you always gotta have a scapegoat, so I was that scapegoat. So when I said the ‘1-2-3 Cancun’ everybody was like oh he don’t wanna…nah f—–, I’m still hooping. But we ain’t coming back and Cancun is around the corner and it’s off the chain. So s—, what the f— we wanna go back to Utah and lose 4-1, what the f—? It was a scapegoat.”

That offseason, Van Exel was traded to the Denver Nuggets, and though the point guard admitted he was ready to move on, he was angry at being dealt to one of the worst teams in the NBA. And while it wasn’t a good look for Van Exel at the time, the “1-2-3 Cancun” chant continues to be used today to describe teams who have clearly given up on the season.

Perhaps that moment did give the Lakers a reason to move on, but the team clearly needed to make some changes in order to take that next step and win a championship. Regardless, Van Exel remains one of the truly under-appreciated guards of his era and one of the faces of the Lakers at that time.

Former Lakers guard Nick Van Exel discusses Kobe Bryant’s work ethic

Van Exel also played with a young Kobe Bryant on those Lakers teams and he had the highest praise for his work ethic, even as an 18-year old just entering the league.

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With Bird and Johnson among the Hall-of-Fame talent played for either team, there are countless memories and heartbreak between the Celtics and Lakers, particularly in NBA Finals history. That applies to separate dates on this day in Lakers history.

The first came when the Lakers defeated the Celtics in Game 6 of the 1985 NBA Finals. After multiple instances of heartbreak, it marked the first time the Lakers defeated their longtime rival for a championship.

Magic Johnson’s iconic Finals moment

Then on June 9, 1987, Johnson had one of the more iconic moments in Game 4 of the Finals. The Lakers were trailing, 106-105, with seven seconds remaining in the game.

Michael Cooper threw an inbounds pass to Johnson, who did a hesitation dribble before driving toward the middle of the paint. After three dribbles, he gathered and went up for what is famously known as a “baby sky hook” or as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar put it, a “junior, junior sky hook.”

Johnson got the shot over primary defender Kevin McHale and secondary defender Robert Parish to find the bottom of the net.

Although Johnson’s game-winner has gone down in the annals of Lakers and NBA history, it was nearly wiped out by Bird. He got away from James Worthy for a clean look at a 3-pointer from in front of the Lakers bench.

But Bird missed long, and the Lakers emerged with a 107-106 victory at the Boston Garden to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. Johnson finished with a game-high 29 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists.

They Celtics were led by McHale’s 23 points and 13 rebounds, and aside from Bird missing what would have been a game-winner, might be haunted by blowing a 16-point halftime lead.

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And in the eyes of Hall of Famer and NBA analyst Charles Barkley, there is only one team James should sign with this summer.

“LeBron only has one play in my opinion, and that’s to go back to Cleveland,” Barkley said on ESPN’s Get Up. “That’s his only smart, logical choice. Go back and finish his career with the Cavs. It’s a perfect fix… It doesn’t do him any good to stay in LA because No. 1, they’re not going to be competitive in the West. And also, it’s time for the Lakers to turn the team over to Luka [Doncic]…

“They’re not going to compete with the Spurs. They’re not gonna compete with OKC or the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 42-year-old guy. They’re not going to be competitive… If he stays in LA, he’s doing it for off-court reasons. But if he goes back to the Cavs, where I believe he shouldn’t have never left in the first place, the Cavs would probably be the favorite in the East. And that’s to me is his only logical choice.”

When it comes to telling the story of James’ career, ending in Cleveland, his hometown squad where he started his career and whom he brought the franchise’s first NBA Championship, would be perfect. Whether or not it’s his best move from a competitive standpoint, and bringing him closer to winning a championship, is another question.

Competing with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder in the West is an extremely tough task without a doubt, and one the Lakers will try to navigate and accomplish this offseason. But the road in the East is far from easy as well and James joining the Cavaliers does not automatically put them above the likes of the New York Knicks, who could win the 20206 NBA Championship, or teams like the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers who will be welcoming back All-Star Tyrese Haliburton next season.

It is a very tough decision for James to make this summer assuming he does continue playing and he will weigh every potential option before choosing where he plays next year.

Austin Reaves hopes to continue playing with LeBron James

Someone who disagrees with Barkley is Austin Reaves, who has spent his entire career as James’ teammate with the Lakers and hopes to continue playing alongside him going forward.

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