In the aftermath of a disappointing Lakers season, LeBron James is taking this summer to rest and recover. In a recent chat with his co-host, Steve Nash, on the ‘Mind the Game’ podcast, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar confirmed his summer plans and revealed where he’s at regarding conversations about his retirement.
“My daughter is heavily into volleyball, so I’ll be in a lot of gyms this summer as she’s with her travel league team out in California… so to spend a lot of time with her and take some vacation time with the family, get back some of the time that you lose in the eight, nine month season and see what this next journey looks like,” said James. “I haven’t had the conversation with my family yet on as far as me going forward or whatever the case may be… but we’ll see what happens.”
It’s no secret that LeBron James is in the final stages of his NBA career. In 22 seasons in the league, James is a 21x All-Star, 4x MVP, 4x champion, and 20x All-NBA player. He’s got averages of 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game on 51.3% shooting.
With amazing dedication to his body and conditioning, LeBron has achieved unprecedented longevity, and it’s part of the reason he was able to carry the Lakers to the third-best record in the West this season at 40 years old. Now, after a loss in the first round, LeBron is facing another long offseason, and there are major questions about what comes next.
For the Lakers, their priority is finding a big man to build up their interior depth and give Luka Doncic the rim-running center he needs. While options are somewhat limited, the Lakers have enough flexibility to make an upgrade in the frontcourt, but it remains to be seen if it will be enough to get them back in title contention.
For LeBron James, the next few months will be all about rest and preparation for the battles to come. After suffering an MCL sprain for the first time in his career, LeBron experienced enough pain that he disqualified himself from NBA playoff action. Even if the Lakers won Game 5, LeBron would not have played, and it likely would have been the end for the Lakers.
At 40 years old, James will take a cautious approach with his recovery, and he will do whatever it takes to get back to full strength. After that, LeBron has left the future entirely open-ended. With a one-year, $52.6 million player option, LeBron can either opt in for another year or opt out to choose a different path.
If he retires, the entire NBA community will come together and celebrate his career, but most experts agree that LeBron will return for at least one more season. With averages of 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists in the 2024-25 campaign, James can still play at an elite level, and he still has more to give in pursuit of another NBA championship.
The only question now for LeBron is what more he can accomplish before it’s all said and done. With one more championship, James can match Jordan’s titles and strengthen his case as the NBA’s GOAT, but the path ahead is anything but easy, and it will require a massive effort from the King.
