LeBron James is still a superstar, but he’s undeniably closer to the end of his legendary career than the beginning. He just completed his 22nd NBA season as the Los Angeles Lakers were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He and Vince Carter are the only two players in league history to play that many. If James returns, he will be the first player ever to play 23 years of NBA basketball.
That, however, is no certainty. When asked how much longer he plans to play on Wednesday, James declined to answer. “I don’t have an answer to that. I’ll sit down with my wife, family and support group … have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play. We’ll see,” James said.
This has been the stance James has taken for the past several years. In 2023, for instance, he issued a startlingly similar quote. “I got a lot to think about,” James said after getting swept by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals. “Just personally, with me moving forward with the game of basketball, I got a lot to think about.”
Obviously, James — who has a player option worth more than $52 million for the 2025-26 season– returned for the 2023-24 season. He is also expected to return for the 2025-26 season, according to ESPN.
Inevitably, he will retire. The question, at this stage, is what he still has left to do in the NBA. This season, James accomplished a longtime goal when he suited up alongside his son, Bronny James, whom the Lakers drafted No. 55 overall last June. His younger son, Bryce, is about to be a freshman at the University of Arizona and will be eligible for the 2026 NBA Draft. If James wants to play with him, he’ll need to stick around for next season and the year after.
If James wants to win a fifth championship, the hope is that the Lakers will be able to help him do so next season. The midseason acquisition of Luka Dončić positioned the Lakers to not only improve, but to take the ball out of James’ hands a bit and potentially keep him fresher over a long season. The improvement of Austin Reaves accomplishes the same goal. The Lakers have draft capital to trade, and if James is willing to leave a bit of money on the table, could be active in free agency using the mid-level exception. With one good summer, as James learned in 2019, the Lakers can build a championship team.
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But after 22 seasons, there just aren’t that many things left for him to accomplish. He could break Robert Parish’s regular-season games played record next year if he plays 50 games. He already holds the all-time scoring record and a number of other records as well. He’s a four-time MVP and a four-time champion. He could have retired years ago with a credible case as the greatest basketball player of all time. Eventually, he will decide that he has played enough basketball, and “eventually” gets sooner with each passing year. For now, the Lakers just have to hope that this one won’t be his last.
