The 2025-26 season begins in just under a month, and it could potentially mark the final season for LeBron James in the NBA and/or as a Laker.
James is entering the final year of his contract with the Lakers, leaving the 40-year-old’s future more up in the air than ever before. James acknowledged earlier this month on the 360 With Speedy podcast that “retirement is coming,” but not quite yet.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka restated to reporters Thursday that they would “love” for James to retire as a Laker, but are leaving his future up to him.
“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,” Pelinka said. “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.
Pelinka continued, “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.”
With Lakers training camp set to begin next week, James will soon enter the 23rd season of his NBA career and eighth with the Lakers. It’s unclear how much longer James will play, but with at least more season guaranteed in Los Angeles, the Lakers are gearing up to bring back their 18th championship, and second with James on board.
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