When LeBron James takes the floor for the first time in the 2025-26 season for the Los Angeles Lakers, he’ll make history as the first player ever to play in 23 NBA campaigns. He reaches this unprecedented longevity while still being one of the 10 best players in the game today, and with his all-time status already cemented.
James is still looking to compete for championships, though. Alongside Luka Doncic, LeBron is going to be the second option for the first time in his career, and more than ever is focused on getting to the playoffs healthy, not dominating in the regular season.
With that in mind, James and the Lakers need to come up with a plan that can manage his workload effectively between now and April, giving the Lakers opportunities to win as many games as possible while keeping the 40-year-old fresh. He spoke about that plan at Lakers Media Day, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“It remains to be seen,” James told ESPN when asked about his planned participation in training camp and the preseason. “Obviously, I want to be out there as much as I can … but we know where I’m at, and the coaching staff knows where I’m at as far as me getting to a place where we’re all good as far as getting on the court.
“It’s Year 23 from me. I got a lot of miles on my game. I’ve trained throughout the course of the offseason, but just my presence is going to be important as well. Making sure that even if I’m not on the floor, I’m always in tune to what we’re doing so I know what’s going on at all times. So, just looking forward to that.”
James is also coming off a season that ended with a first-of-his-career knee injury. And that has to be factored into how he approaches training camp and the regular season:
“That’s always the challenge: How can I get my body close to 100 percent?” he said. “Obviously, coming off the MCL sprain last year, obviously, the foot has kind of given me a little problem from time to time throughout the course of the last few seasons. So, that’s always the challenge of seeing how I can get my body as close to 100 percent where I can go out and perform at a high level. So, I’m still ramping things back up. I’m not where I want to be. But I mean, I don’t want to be where I want to be right now in September. So, I got some time and I’m looking forward to the process of getting there.”
The Lakers star is no longer going to be required to shoulder the majority of the offensive burden. That alone should help preserve him more as he goes through the season. But plenty will still be asked of James, and the question becomes how many games can he play at 100% if the goal for the season is to win a championship.
LeBron James: contract status won’t impact performance
LeBron James looked happy at Media Day, but there has been a lot of speculation about his future in Los Angeles after he opted into his player option for the 2025-26 season. This will be the first time James is playing on a truly expiring deal and is a precarious position to be in for the superstar.
However, he emphasized that his contact status won’t factor into his play this season.
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