The Los Angeles Lakers superstar will likely pick up his $52.6 million with the club for the 2025-26 season, ESPN‘s Shams Charania reported on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.
“I’m told he’s likely to opt in,” Charania said. “He’s got a massive player option. That’s likely, that’s the plan. His option date is June 29, so he still has about a month to figure (it) out.
“There’s gonna be some hard conversations that are gonna happen between him (and) the Lakers. Seeing what this team looks like. Because LeBron James, whether he plays one more season or a few more seasons, he wants to be in a competitive environment.”
James and the Lakers were ousted in Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. After the early playoff exit, the 40-year-old James wasn’t ready to commit to any future plans.
“I don’t have the answer to that,” James said shortly after being eliminated. “Something I’ll sit down with my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it, and see what happens. Just have conversations with myself on how long I want to continue to play. I don’t know the answer to that right now, to be honest.”
James has given no public indication he is thinking about retirement this summer, but Lakers fans have been holding their breath until the top scorer in NBA history makes his plans official.
If James does in fact return for a 23rd NBA season, he would break the NBA longevity record he currently shares with Vince Carter at 22 seasons. He is also just 49 regular-season games behind Robert Parish, who holds the NBA record with 1,611 games played. James already holds the league record for career playoff games with 292.
But this season was another disappointing finish for James, who is in search of his fifth NBA title. Los Angeles didn’t build a winning dynamic quickly enough after the mid-season arrival of Luka Doncic in a seismic trade for Anthony Davis.
And Doncic isn’t the only teammate who could compel James to return, as his 20-year-old son, Bronny, is coming off a surprisingly solid rookie season with the Lakers in which they became the first father and son to play together in NBA history.
Bronny is hoping to carve out a bigger role alongside his father next season after getting sporadic playing time this year. LeBron said the chance to work alongside Bronny this season was the “No. 1” accomplishment of his career.
Not only that, but LeBron showed he’s still more than capable of producing at an elite level in 2024-25.
He averaged 24.4 points per game — his lowest since his rookie season, but just barely — along with 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds.
—with files from The Associated Press
