LeBron James is set to play his 23rd season in the NBA!
The Los Angeles Lakers icon LeBron James has exercised his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season. With this, he became the first player in the history of the league to play his 23rd season. James’ decision has not been announced publicly yet by him or the Lakers, and ESPN and The Athletic were the firsts to report it. As James’ agent Rich Paul told ESPN, the 40-year-old is currently monitoring the Los Angeles Lakers’ off-season moves and aims to compete for the championship this year.
Paul told ESPN, “LeBron wants to compete for a championship. 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.”
James, a four-time NBA Champion signed a two-year $101.4 million contract in 2024 with a player option option. As he exercised the option, the 21-time NBA All-Star will stay under the contract with the Lakers, and won’t enter free agency in 2025. In case James had declined his player option, he would have become a free agent. Entering free agency means James could either have re-negotiated a deal with the Lakers or signed up with any team.
However, considering that no other team in the NBA currently has the cap space to sign him and give him a salary as high as this, exercising the option was the only suitable choice for James. While James has earlier opted out with the intention of re-signing, his current decision to stay in as well as Rich Paul’s statement indicate towards a potential trade involving the NBA icon.
Talking about his recent past season, the four-time NBA MVP, James suffered a knee injury during the Game 5 of the first round in the playoffs 2025. He collided with the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Donte DiVincenzo with 8:39 remaining in the fourth quarter of the game which ultimately proved to be the Lakers’ last in the season. He finished the season with an average of 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists in 70 games in the 2024-25 season. His records placed him the top 22 in each category.
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