LeBron James just turned 40 years old and while he continues to play at a high level for the Los Angeles Lakers, the end of his career isn’t too far away. At the Lakers’ practice session on Monday, James was asked about ending his career with the franchise and had an interesting response.
“I think that’s the plan,” James said. “I would love for it to end here and that would be the plan. I mean I came here to play (the) last stage of my career and to finish it off here. But I’m also not silly or too jaded to know the business of the game as well, know the business of basketball.
“But I think my relationship with this organization speaks for itself,” James added. “Hopefully, I have to go nowhere before my career is over.”
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You never say never in sports but the Lakers will never get to the point where they’d want James to leave. They have treated their superstars extremely well over the years and it’d be a shock if they ever tell the 20-time All-Star to head to the exit door.
It was even reported back in February, that the Lakers would strongly prefer that James retires with them. The only question was whether the four-time MVP wanted that too and it seems he does. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it would appear safe to say that LeBron will retire as a Laker.
Should James change his mind on his subject, though, it wouldn’t be too hard for him to leave. He has a $52.6 million player option for 2025-26 and can become a free agent in the coming offseason by opting out. There would be plenty of teams lining up for his services too.
James is in the midst of one of the worst statistical seasons of his career but is still putting up impressive numbers. He is averaging 23.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game in 2024-25 while shooting 49.6% from the field and every team in the league would want to have him within their ranks.
LeBron James Doesn’t Believe The Lakers Are At The ‘Championship Level’ Right Now
The 18-13 Lakers upgraded their roster by trading for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton on Sunday. It’s been widely regarded as a great move, but James isn’t ready to call the Lakers a championship contender just yet.
“Are we at a championship level? Can we win a championship right now? No, I don’t think so. But that’s good because we have a lot more room to improve. We just added two new guys in DoeDoe (Dorian Finney-Smith) and Shake. We’ll see how we incorporate those guys, it’s going to be fun. Happy they’re there”.
“I don’t know if that determines if I stick around longer because it doesn’t change my career in any fashion.”
The Lakers do have a lot of room for improvement and it will be interesting to see how well they play with Finney-Smith among their ranks. He is an elite 3-and-D wing and they have sorely missed a player with that profile in recent years.
Even as good as Finney-Smith is, though, his addition isn’t enough to turn the Lakers into a serious contender. They need another big man and after parting with D’Angelo Russell and need another playmaker as well.
We’ll get our first look at the new-look Lakers when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday at 9 PM ET. It’s about as difficult as a first test can get, as the Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA at 28-4.
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