LeBron James dropped a teaser on social media about his “Second Decision” on Monday, referencing his infamous announcement special from 2010 when he left Cleveland for Miami. That teaser sparked speculation about whether or not he would be announcing his intentions to retire after this season, or if it would simply be an ad for something. On Tuesday morning we got the answer.
LeBron’s “Second Decision” was just part of an advertisement that, true to the original Decision special, only served to make most fans upset that he teased it to make folks think he might be calling it a career.
So, as the Lakers get set to begin their season in two weeks, LeBron James is not retiring after the 2025-26 campaign — at least as far as we know. James said recently that he has his own timeline for when he’ll call it a career, noting he’s not planning on waiting on his other son, Bryce, to make it to the league to play alongside he and Bronny.
“I’m not waiting on Bryce, I don’t know what his timeline is, he’s his own young man,” James said on the possibility of waiting to retire until his youngest son enters the league. “We’ll see what happens this year, next year, but he has his own timeline, I got my timeline, and I don’t know if they quite match up.”
James is about to enter his 23rd NBA season, a sacred number in basketball as it is the uniform number primarily worn by both James and Michael Jordan, the two greatest players in the history of the sport.
James and the Lakers opted not to work out a new contract extension this offseason, allowing LeBron to hit free agency next summer where the Lakers want him to “choose his story” with regards to how he finishes his career. With Luka Dončić in town, that seems like the nice way of saying they are ready to move into a new era without James rather than help him play out a retirement season.
That leaves James with a legitimately interesting decision to make next summer, as he tries to figure out what the best option is for him to end his career. He could end up back in L.A. on the Lakers, change teams one more time to end his career or simply walk off into the sunset. That choice will provide reason for genuine fascination and intrigue from fans, but it won’t be dubbed the Second Decision, as that’s apparently reserved for launching a new special edition cognac.
