Less than a month remains until the 2025–26 season starts, which may be LeBron James‘ last season in the NBA and/or as a Laker.
The 40-year-old James’ future is more uncertain than ever as he approaches the last year of his contract with the Lakers. On the 360 With Speedy podcast earlier this month, James admitted that “retirement is coming,” but not quite yet. Although they would “love” for James to retire as a Laker, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka reiterated to reporters Thursday that they are letting him decide his own destiny.
Pelinka stated: “The first thing we want to do in terms of LeBron and his future is give him absolute respect to choose his story with his family in terms of how many years he’s gonna continue to play,”
“He’s earned that right and he’s the best one to talk about that in terms of how many years he’d like to play.”
“We were very intentional this summer in terms of the pieces we added with Luka [Doncic], once LeBron opted in, making sure they had the necessary pieces around them to be on a really competitive, strong team, and we built into that and for that. In terms of the future, … first things first would be for him to be able to make the decisions he wants to in terms of how long he wants to play. We’re going to continue to honor and respect that and let him speak into that.”
James’ NBA career will soon begin its 23rd season. Although it’s unknown how long James will play, the Lakers are preparing to win their 18th championship—their second with James on board—with at least another season assured in Los Angeles.
