Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has a lot of important decisions to make this offseason. It’s no secret that the end is near for the 41-year-old, but he showed in 2025-26 that he can still play at an extremely high level if he wants to keep going.
If James does come back for a 24th NBA season, he will then need to decide where he wants to finish his career, whether that be with the Lakers or elsewhere. With so much up in the air, James will naturally take his time and enjoy the offseason before making any decisions on his future.
“I’m still in the moment of just taking my time. I haven’t really even thought about it too much,” James said on the most recent episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast. “Obviously I understand that I’m a free agent and I can control my own destiny about being here with this franchise for the foreseeable future or if it’s going somewhere else. But I haven’t really even gotten to that point. I haven’t even taken my family vacation yet, which is gonna happen after Memorial Day. That’s kind of the thing at the forefront of my mind.
“But I think at some point in June, late June, as July rolls around and free agency starts to get going, as July rolls maybe into August and we start to kind of like get a feel of what my future may look like. If it’s continuing to play the game that I love, which I know I can still five so much to the game and play at a high level, or if it’s not.
“But I have not gotten to that point yet and when I get there, it will be fun to kind of see what the future can hold, either if it’s like I said, in another NBA arena for another year or not.”
The Lakers have made it clear that they want James back next season, and the feeling appears to be mutual. There will be a lot to sort out to make that happen though, and at the top of the list would be how much money James is willing to play for.
While the Lakers have a lot of cap space at their disposal, that can dry up quickly if James is looking to play for near-max money. That will be the biggest question for L.A. going into the offseason, and if the 22-time All-Star does indeed want to take his time and perhaps wait until August, that could complicate things when it comes to building out the rest of the roster.
LeBron James wants to compete for championships
One thing that James is making very clear going into the offseason is that he is looking to compete for another championship if he keeps playing.
“Yeah, absolutely… There’s no way. Winning is most important, because you wanna be excited about going to work every day,” James added. “You want to be excited about, like I said earlier, winning the day. Being around a group of guys that feel the same way and are trying not to take steps backwards. I understand the season is a long marathon and whatever the case may be, but those building blocks throughout the course of the season is what matters to when you get to the sprint, which is now, the postseason.
“So yeah, I’m not going anywhere where it’s a start over in year 24 and things of that nature. I’m done with that.”
The Lakers are clearly a notch below the top contenders in the NBA right now, but they have the assets to improve this offseason to make a run if James wants to return.
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