Perhaps the first domino to fall in the Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason is whether LeBron James will opt in to the final year of his contract. He has a $52.6 player option for next season, and he needed to let the team know by Sunday, June 29, what he intends to do with that option year.
As many have expected, James will pick up that player option. However, it reportedly doesn’t mean that next season will be his final one in the NBA, or that he doesn’t want to win another championship.
Via ESPN:
“Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is exercising his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told ESPN on Sunday,” wrote Shams Charania.
“James, the NBA’s career scoring leader, wants to compete for a championship next season and potentially beyond and will be closely monitoring the Lakers’ moves and whether the team is positioning itself this offseason to field a title-contending roster, Paul said.”
Paul reiterated that the 40-year-old “values a realistic chance” of earning his fifth world title.
“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Paul told ESPN. “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.
“We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”
It is anyone’s best guess how many more seasons he will play and how many of those seasons will be with the Lakers, although one hint may have come very recently.
“It remains to be seen whether James will reach season No. 24 or beyond. James went out to dinner in New York this past week with his wife, Savannah, Miami Heat big man Kevin Love and his wife, Kate, and other confidants, and one of the dinner guests posted a snippet of the night to Instagram where James can be heard saying, ‘[Savannah] wants me to [expletive] retire in the next year or so.'”
James will set a record this fall by playing in his 23rd NBA season. He averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds a game while shooting 51.3% from the field and 37.6% from 3-point range this season, and that production was good enough to earn him a spot on the All-NBA Second Team.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James will pick up his player option for next season
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
