As has been the case for several years now, the offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers comes with major questions about the future of one of its big stars in LeBron James.
James has been effectively doing one-year deals for the last couple seasons, meaning that retirement is a potential consideration every summer for the superstar.
It makes sense, as James is now 40 and coming off of his 22nd NBA campaign. The end of his playing career is in plain sight, and it’s only a matter of time before he hangs it up and completes one of the great careers in the history of sports. But, shockingly, LeBron is still a legitimate top-20 player in the NBA, if not even higher.
That’s why many expect him to be back on the Lakers for the 2025-26 season to try and help Luka Doncic contend for a championship in what will be his first full campaign as a Laker. But on the latest episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash, James spoke about his summer in very noncommittal terms:
“Obviously, number one is to get back healthy. I’ll be able to do some small stuff within the next week or two, just to kind of get the mobility back into the knee. My youngest son is headed off to college soon, so it’s another bird off the nest. Another emotional moment coming up with Bryce going off to Tucson to be an Arizona Wildcat. But my daughter is heavily in volleyball so I’ll be in a lot of gyms this summer as she’s with her travel league team out in California. They go all over, they’ve been to Reno, Nevada. They’re going to Las Vegas. They play all over California. So just spending a lot of time with her, and then just take some vacation time with the family. Some of the time that you lose when you’re in an 8-9 month season. And see what the next journey looks like. Haven’t had the conversation with the family yet as far as me going forward or whatever the case may be. We’ll see what happens.”
It would be somewhat surprising for LeBron to retire without some sort of retirement tour, similar to what Kobe Bryant had in his final season with the Lakers. But, of course, it’s always a decision that players make with their families, and if James has not done that yet, it may be some time before fans know the final decision.
LeBron can become an unrestricted free agent and sign a new deal with the Lakers at the end of June, meaning he has until then to figure out his future plans. The Lakers would certainly like to know what James wants before planning out their offseason.
But conversations like this are a reminder that James is nearing the end of his historic career, and may soon retire, a decision that would send the entire NBA into a new era.
LeBron James gives update on knee injury
In the immediate aftermath of the Lakers’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, it was announced that LeBron James had suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain after a collision with Donte DiVincenzo.
James hadn’t spoken about the severity of the injury since the Lakers season ended, but he now revealed that it was a pain he had never experienced before and made it clear that he would not have been able to continue playing if the series had continued.
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