After getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for a second straight season, 21-time All-Star Lakers forward LeBron James was noncommittal about his future in the NBA.
The four-time MVP holds a lucrative $52.6MM player option for the 2025/26 season, which would be his record-setting 23rd in the league. At 40, James has been the NBA’s oldest player for two straight years. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, it is anticipated that James will at least return to suit up next season, as he noted on The Pat McAfee Show (YouTube video link).
“There’s no expectation for LeBron James to retire,” Charania said (hat tip to RealGM). “I will say that my sense, my understanding is he will play at least another NBA season. You think about next year, it’ll be year 23, that would set a league record. Year 23 for number 23. The All-Star game is in Los Angeles. He’s potentially playing in Los Angeles. There’s a lot of stars that would align for next season, potentially, if that’s what LeBron James decides. He’d be 41 years old in December.”
James put up impressive averages of 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks per game in L.A.’s 4-1 first round loss to Minnesota, but he often appeared exhausted by the fourth quarter of those bouts.
“And the other thing is does Bryce James, his son, does that factor play into it at all?” Charania said. “His son is going to be potentially draft-eligible in 2026 next year. So if he feels at some point next year Bryce James might be an NBA player. Might be a draft-eligible player, does he extend that window? I think that’s the only potential carrot caveat that you think of out there that could keep LeBron James even longer than at least one more year.”
Bryce James has committed to play at Arizona in 2025/26.
There’s more out of Los Angeles:
- LeBron James’ eldest son, Bronny James, was a deep-bench rookie guard with the Lakers this past season. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link), the 20-year-old verified after Wednesday’s loss that he will return to suit up in Summer League activities with L.A. for the second straight season.
- After a generally successful 50-win regular season, first-year Lakers head coach JJ Redick had a strange playoff run during a 4-1 first round elimination to the Timberwolves, opines Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. Swanson noted that Redick’s unusual coaching choices may have contributed to L.A.’s expedient exit. Redick played just five players for the entire second half of an eventual Game 4 defeat, and subsequently insisted that the club’s late-game failings were not a result of clear fatigue. Redick also opted to play reserve big man Maxi Kleber in Game 5 in his first game as a Laker after a three-month recovery from foot surgery. The Lakers, who essentially opted against using a traditional center in Game 5, surrendered 56 paint points and 20 second-chance points to Minnesota in the loss.
- The Lakers now head into an uncertain offseason, as Mark Deeks of HoopsHype and Bobby Marks of ESPN observe in their respective summer previews. Beyond James’ contract decision, forward Dorian Finney-Smith also has a $15.4MM player option for 2025/26. The Lakers could offer five-time All-NBA guard Luka Doncic a four-year, maximum-salary contract extension as of August 2. Veteran players on sizable deals like forward Rui Hachimura, guard Gabe Vincent, and Kleber could all be used to match salaries should Los Angeles look to acquire perimeter or center help on the trade market.
Unfortunately this Lakers roster was set to be a better playoff team with AD and Christie, but couldn’t say no to Luka, who the roster wasn’t built around. Lakers gotta restructure the roster this offseason to maximize Luka and Bron together.
This Top 10 List could soon become a Top 15 if he keeps nauseating a growing amount of the population by not retiring soon (now!), Davey J.
My Top 10 favorite LeBron playoff exits…..
#1: 2017, Warriors, NBA Finals (gonna be tough to knock this one off the top spot. People tend to forgot the rosters were pretty even- it’s 2016 you could say was more of a mismatch in Cavs’ favor, and they almost blew it if it weren’t for the big assist from the league – as you had LeBron/KD, Kyrie/Steph, Love/Klay, Tristan/Dray.
#2: 2023, Nuggets, WCF (the relief and debt of gratitude to Jokic and the Nuggets was through the roof. It was getting to be too close – to the Finals – for comfort here, and the Lakers probably woulda defeated the Heat (again – although with true validation this time as compared to that lame summer league bubble tournament which many people skipped watching). To get swept out of the conference finals goes to show you a team is not top-tier level – a close conference finals defeat (like 4-3 or 4-2) and there’s a strong argument that even though that team didn’t go to Finals or win it all, they should still be seriously considered among the top tier of teams for a particular season)
#3-#10: TBA
(I may adjust some of the rankings along the way. Please be patient. And stay tuned.)
@topchosen
your delusional. the gsw were a 73 win team with a future HOF coach vs a 57 win team with a rookie coach in Ty Lue. if you made a list of each team it would likely be
LBJ
Curry
Kyrie
Klay
Dray
Love
Iggy
Barnes
then you can debate the rest.
In 2017 the 73 win team added KD….Cmon…
LBJ
KD
Curry
Kyrie
Klay
Love/Dray
Iggy
And stop with this nonsense that the league helped the Cavs out. Going into the finals Dray and the entire world were aware that he accumulated too many technical folks and that the next one would result in a 1 game suspension. Who’s fault is it that he has an affinity for attacking other dudes nuts? Refs Cakes a tech what was the office supposed to do? ignore it? But they still best the GSW 3 other times that series so let’s stop acting like he was dominating them.
Whether anyone cares to admit it publicly or not, anybody who truly knows nba basketball knew that when Draymond got the techs and was thrown out, and the league didn’t rescind, we all knew the series was over.
The league gifted LeBron and CLEVELAND that championship.
Regardless of that there were still other games remaining, we knew the series was over.
To this day I say that was one of (if not THE best) moves of his career… stepping over Draymond and baiting him.
Won Cleveland a Championship with it!
The refs didn’t call any fouls/technicals against Dray or LeBron after that altercation, KnicksFanCavsFan. Did you forget that?
Wrong. The refs called personal fouls on both players (resulting in a jump ball).
Then Lebron and the Cavs campaigned for the league to upgrade it to a flagrant, which the league did before game 5, while also giving Lebron a retroactive technical.
Either way, still no technicals called by the refs, NBA is OK. LeBron became the master-baiter in that moment, am I right about that?
Guys, I’m gonna try my best to keep this top 10 list under Lakers headlines. I’m also gonna attempt to be as brief as possible with my explanations. Thanks for reading if you can relate to these sentiments in any way.
My Top 10 favorite LeBron playoff exits…..
#1: 2017 (1-4 vs Warriors, Finals)
#2: 2023 (0-4 vs Nuggets, WCF)
#3: 2014 (1-4 vs Spurs, Finals) – it hadn’t quite reached the “I can’t stand this guy” level yet, but the seeds were beginning to germinate. I was pulling for the Spurs after their terrible luck against Miami the year prior. Imagine if LeBron and company had won this one; LeBron fans would assuredly be making their typical absurb claims, haplessly attempting to convince anyone who would listen that LeBron’s single 3-peat was somehow more impressive than Jordan’s pair of SAME DECADE 3-peats. Still, the Heat did manage 2 in 4 years – notable, but in no shape or form a “dynasty”.
@jump shot
The “best” move of his career was crying to the NBA head office? Not “beating the opps by playing superior basketball?”
Do you understand what clown crap this is?
LeFraud will die a fraud.
Oh puh-leeze, are we acting like the refs dont throw the whistles away every postseason? Lebron begging the front office to suspend Draymond was the lowest of the low. He will always be a fraud for that, a real winner (like Kawhi) would never do something like that.
LeFraud isn’t even top 5 all-time, let alone #1.
@DaveyJ , do you trade Reaves for a big?
How many burner accounts to have a conversation with yourself?
@bowserhound mods can IP prove this allegation real easy with my replying.
@EMS Nah, I’d keep Reeves but flip everyone else into a more cohesive unit, especially the bench.
I highly doubt the mods have access to the IP addresses. The IP address will not tell you anything, unless you are a troll.
@easy
I don’t think they need to. they were able to get Mark Williams for Konnecht and a pic. I don’t think they need or will get an all-star caliber center. A Claxton type would be great. or Hartenstein or healthy Mitch Robinson. I wonder if they can sign a very and maybe draft a defendant minded big in the draft in the late 1st round?
@KnicksFCF
Why would OKC trade Hartenstein or the Knicks trade finally healthy Robinson (their only backup 5) for anything the Lakers have? Besides, they voided the Williams deal over health concerns (which Mitchell has plenty of) and because they wanted to keep Knecht.
Also Claxton is signed for $25 mil next season, Knecht and a pick won’t get that trade done. It’s going to be tough for the Lakers to get a starting quality big unless Lebron takes a pay cut.
Wait a minute….Did you just completely nail everything that needed to be said in one small post Davey !
Congrats kiddo, nice post ….. You can be so much of a better poster (imo) if you just kept emotion out of it
Kiddo? I’m literally older than you? Weird way to admit I’m right about most of what I say on here, youre just butt hurt when it hurts your argument or fave team. I made an asinine, boring take/post on purpose and here you are, clapping like a 2 IQ moron at it…
Get on my level…lil bro…
My bad, I assumed you were like 12
Still think your post was a good one (this time)
I take it getting compliments are few and far between in your sphere
Ok, thanks. I take back calling you names like a small child, despite not being a small child. I blame our President who acts like a child and became president due to it!
Would you call Davey Boy Smith “kiddo”?
They have 53M in contacts to make deals. Guess Durant is coming to LA. lol
There is no maximizing Luka. He doesn’t play defense. Period. Until he plays both sides of the ball the lakers, nor Luka, will never win. Regular season games are a different kind of game and really don’t matter.
Stop drinking the kool aid, Luka isn’t a winning player, he’s a me-first player.
@highway
Irk Nowitzki says hi. But look how the Mavs covered up his deficiency by bringing in Chandler, Marion, Butler, Haywood, Peja ….all guys that are 6’8 to 7’1 . Lakers just need a couple of tough bigs that can finish around the basket and be tough. with their passing ability they can make guys that are hungry ball Hawks into very serviceable bigs like Varejoa, Mozgov or find someone in the 2nd round like Gafford.
Lakers in 5. No one said it was going to be a loss in 5
A lot of people want to celebrate the end to the career of one the greatest athletes to ever play any sport. We should all celebrate and enjoy.
Setting a real bad example by pushing his kids to enter the draft after a single season. Bronny could be a decent option on a college team while getting an education, kid could have actually learned ball from a serious coach who would get the most out of him, then entered the draft down the road and actually made his own way into the NBA. Instead, Lebron got his own team to throwaway a late pick so his son could ride the bench the entire season while being coached by his dad’s incompetent friend.
I’m OK with LeBron handling his kids this way. I mean if your dad‘s a fireman, you have a way in to a great career without going to college.
I love that LeBron gave up 2 1/2 million dollars of his own salary to pay Bronny. Excellent move in my opinion.
You could say Bronny could’ve worked on his game and become a player in the league in his own right and same with Bryce, but that’s not happening if they’re not good enough. And they’re not good enough.
So play with the Lakers a year or two then when LeBron is gone you go to Europe or China or whatever and play 10 years making a good salary.
They don’t have to worry about their future because daddy is a smart businessman also. They become executives in whatever franchise he purchases too.
Yeah, I think this is a no-brainer how LeBron is handling this. You don’t step aside and let them do it on their own when you have an opportunity for two years in the NBA with your dad.
This is all coming from someone who is definitely NOT a LeBron fan. I can’t stand the whining, complaining and all the rest of it, but I respect his clean record, family life, ambassador of the league status and what he’s doing for his sons here.
Firemen is a top 10 most dangerous career, I wouldn’t say its superior to a desk job where you definitely arent going to be surrounded by fire.
One more thought is that if you’re going to carry your son on the team after he goes to college for four years and sucked big time, then nepotism would fly in the face of LeBron in a major way and this would be a farce of the greatest degree possible.
But just one year in college says he still has potential to be great and this can be labeled as a move with that in mind.
Lakers suck ……. The Lame Show ……..
Hero Ball —- OneWay Wonder
Luka Dončić averaged 30.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. The Lakers lost the series 4-1. Take your Ares back to Europe we play BOTH ways in the USA ….. bye bye
Irony is dead. A Knicks fan mocks the Lakers franchise.
Or are you parody account?
Learn your history Lakers and Knicks are all over it. …. This is more about a oneway player. Something 80% of posters on here think is a GOD.
Good thing I’ve said he’s been out of shape and one dimensional. Thanks for the compliment Al!
Seriously bro. MJ I don’t like. Cause he owned us.
He was a bad man. Cause he could do it to you on O or D. Very few can do that. Luka is a OneWay Wonder. And if you love ball like I do. You gotta call it out. Thats all
Luka has always has had conditioning issues along with defensive issues. I’ve been saying it since Year3 that he needs to slim down because his defense is so bad. He cannot move laterally against quicker players. Until he realizes that the game is mental off the court with his conditioning and showing me effort on defense, he will never be a COMPLETE player. Helluva offense talent though but to be considered all time status, you need to play both ends of the floor.
Dude posted 30 PPG like it’s an insult. Just get ready for the Kincks exit vs Boston
I never said we can beat Boston. Not fixing our bench assures that. We‘ ll show up in nlike Lakers
Haaa has hooo ho ho hu hasa hee hooo has ha ha
Ya’ll barely beat the Pistons. The 2025 DETROIT Pistons. Get over yourself Spike.
Yeah I’ m all broken up about that loll …….
Wow, Al.., kick a guy while he’s down.
He took his team to the finals the year before so i’m not so quick to label him a loser and kick him out of the league lol.
He’ll be back, I think we can count on that.
It’s pretty tough to put a cohesive unit together in two months while bringing in a major piece of the offense and having it work lol
Well hes 27 they got plenty of time. Show us and show Bron the retired player. Funny how no one cares about defense till the playoffs.
“Learn your history Lakers and Knicks are all over it.”
Lol. History says Knicks are LOSERS.
Knicks have won ZERO titles in 52 years. Lakers have won TWELVE in that time.
History is not on your side.
Knicks have been to how many Finals. Yeah that don’t mean much to someone like you. Only two teams make the finals. Dude I own you. Talk to me about OG and Mitch. Go read espn and come back with a response. Ball comes easy to me. Catch up
> Knicks have been to how many Finals?
Spoken like a true Knicks fan! Proud to be runner-up.
History says the Knicks rarely go to the Finals. Octogenarians (like KnickerbockerAl?) will recall the Knickerbocker glory days in the 50’s, when the NBA had 8 teams. The Knicks made the Finals 3 times, losing (of course) each time, to the storied Rochester Royals and Minneapolis Lakers. The 60’s were even less kind: the Knicks had no Finals appearances.
History says the Knicks are the.NBA’s doormat, sorry. If you want to mock the Lakers, consider changing that Knicks logo to the Celtics’, Spurs’ or Warriors’ so folks don’t think your a parody account.
Yeah spoken like a real fan. Only critique the real ones. Who do you root for. Why are you even here defending the Lakers . . Like you have some kind of knowledge. You are a non who blurts out stuff about everything and knows nothing. Or stands up for anything espn critiques. The day you commit to knowledge. Is the day we can have a conversation. So get informed. You bore me.
KnickerbockerAl said:
> Lakers suck ……. The Lame Show ……..
Those are your words. And you claim this is based on your special “knowledge”? This is how you conduct a “conversation”?
Childish.
Why so much Knick hate Ari? Genuinely curious
Crunch, I don’t “hate” the Knicks. But I don’t feel being a Knicks fan is a qualification for mocking successful franchises like the Lakers, Celtics, or Warriors.
Knicks fans are sure the rest of us feel the majesty of their tradition, even though there’s nothing there.
Lakers likely sign Capella in the off season.
He’s a name near the top of my list also but he’s not the same player He was five years ago. I’d love that guy from five years ago, but he could be slowing down now?
Actually, it would be nice to pry away the other center from Atlanta, but I doubt he’s available. He’s younger and does what Capella used to do.., and more on offense. Nice player.
You kind of wonder if maybe the Knicks in this upcoming off season will be looking to recoup some of their picks, that they have spent to get Towns and Bridges. Thinking outside the box could anyone see maybe a Laker/Knick deal with Towns going to the Lakers. Would the Lakers consider a deal with Portland for Ayton.
Dawg, literally said this to my colleague yesterday at work. Ayton to the Lakers screams like a perfect fit. He just needs to show up and play with his effort and style. Great buy low candidate if I’m Pelinka.
@desertdawg
No way the Knicks would ever trade Towns and his 24.4 ppg/12,8 rpg (while shooting 53%/42% from three). Plus, Luka needs a lob threat to be effective.
Which makes Ayton near ideal. And with Blazers rookie Clingan playing pretty well after Ayton’s season ending injury, it could easily happen. The concern is why what was called a calf strain kept him out so long.
I rather have AD or Sabonis starting with Mitch. Than Towns. This way with Hart as sixth man. It goes a long way to fixing some of Knick woes.
If Knicks lose in 5 or less. Someone will pay. I rather it be Towns than Thibs. So hard to rebuild in NY. Never see it thru ..,.
Mavs won’t trade AD.
Do you think the Knicks would trade Towns for Sabonis?