How obscure 'Over 38 Rule' rule can impact LeBron James signing longer deal with Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers officially signed forward LeBron James to a two-year, $104 million deal, keeping him with the team at least through the 2024-2025 season.

The second year is a player option, so if James decides to opt out of his contract, he will be back on the free agency market next offseason.

A provision in the collective bargaining agreement called the "Over 38 Rule" can impact how NBA teams negotiate deals with players. James turns 40 on Dec. 30.

Here is the language that applies to James' contract, which is under the Determination of Salary section of the CBA.

"The following provisions shall apply to any Player Contract entered into, extended, or renegotiated that, beginning with the date such Contract, Extension, or Renegotiation is signed, covers four (4) or more Seasons, including one (1) or more Seasons commencing after such player will reach or has reached age thirty-eight (38) (an "Over 38 Contract")"

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Six other provisions are included in the "Over 38 rule," which began in 1995 as the over-35 rule, morphed into the over-36 rule, and has been in its current state since 2016.

There are ways around the "Over 38 Rule." One is that if a team holds a player's Bird Rights, which allows a team to exceed the salary cap in order to re-sign a player already on the roster, and that player on Oct. 1 is 35 years old or younger.

However, language in the NBA's collective bargaining agreement insists that, despite it being "sometimes reported that the Over-38 rule prevents teams from signing older players to long contracts," this is actually incorrect. Teams are not prevented from signing longer contracts – the Over-38 Rule simply removes the incentive for doing so.