A Mercedes-Maybach S 680 (Z223), representative of the model LeBron James customized. Not the auction car. Photo: Alexander Migl, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lakers vs Kings ended 116-103 in Sacramento on Wednesday, and the best-documented car tied to either franchise is one LeBron James designed during his eight years as a Laker and that goes to auction this month while he plays for the Philadelphia 76ers.
ESPN’s recap has Luka Dončić at 40 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists at Golden 1 Center. The Lakers came in 6-2 and the Kings 1-6, per ESPN’s game page, so the scoreboard was never going to be the contest. The garage comparison is thinner than the box score.
LeBron’s Maybach
As we reported on Oct. 20, the car is a 2027 Mercedes-Maybach S 680 that James specified through Mercedes-Benz’s MANUFAKTUR program. He had two built and kept one. The 6.0-liter V-12 makes 621 horsepower. The paint is Light Ivory over Stormy Weather Blue Nappa leather, with a crown-shaped “LJ” logo on the fenders and the center console engraved with the GPS coordinates of Akron, Ohio.
The estimate is $425,000 to $550,000 with no reserve, and the full hammer price goes to the LeBron James Family Foundation. Gooding Christie’s lists two Retromobile New York sessions at the Javits Center, Friday, Nov. 20 and Saturday, Nov. 21, both at 11 a.m. EST. The auction page we could open does not list this car, so we can’t confirm its lot number or which day it crosses the block.
Another no-reserve Maybach went through our pages earlier this fall: Elizabeth Taylor’s final Maybach 57, bound for Scottsdale.
He is not a Laker anymore
NBA.com reported that James told the Lakers on June 30 he would play elsewhere in 2026-27. Team governor Jeanie Buss said the Lakers would “always be thankful for his eight years with the Lakers.” The 76ers’ player page now lists him at No. 23. The Maybach is a Lakers-era project, and no document we found ties it to the Kings or the current Lakers roster.
Dončić’s Rimac
The one Dončić car we could trace to original footage is a Rimac Nevera. An Instagram reel from the account @dpspotslj shows him driving it in Ljubljana in August 2025. Slovenia’s Žurnal24 reported on Aug. 7, 2025, citing the sports daily Ekipa, that he “reportedly” bought it. It names no dealer.
Žurnal24 also contradicts itself on price: the article opens with two million U.S. dollars and later gives at least €2.3 million for the Nevera R, a different and more expensive variant. We found no registration, delivery record or post from Dončić himself, so the car sits in the “seen driving it” column, not the “owns it” one.
Sacramento
We found no Kings player, executive or franchise car backed by an auction listing, a dealer post or the player’s own account. The Kings get no entry here. That is a gap in what we could verify, not a claim about what their players drive. Our Mavericks vs Spurs comparison used the same standard.
Sources: ESPN game recap and game page (Nov. 4, 2026); NBA.com free-agency report and 76ers roster page; Gooding Christie’s Retromobile New York auction page; Žurnal24; Backfire News, Oct. 20, 2026. Image credits are in the captions.
Which is the better Lakers vs Kings car story: a documented Maybach from a player who left, or a Rimac Nevera nobody has put a VIN to?
About the Author
