Will LeBron’s eighth year in Los Angeles be the last one for him and the Lakers?
All good things must come to an end.
It’s an unfortunate reality that arises all too often. For the Lakers and LeBron James, that fate is on the horizon and perhaps isn’t so distant anymore.
This time last year, LeBron’s future was seen as being on the Lakers or retiring. His career was going to come to an end in LA. One drastic Luka Dončić later, that feeling has flipped almost entirely.
The Lakers have made it clear they’re prioritizing Luka moving forward. This is his team and his franchise. It’s left LeBron in an unfamiliar spot of no longer being the focus of a franchise for the first time in his career.
That likely led to his statement upon opting in being interpreted likely much differently than he intended and spawned a summer of discussion about what his future now holds. On Friday, longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein posted an article about that very topic.
While the article was almost entirely, by his own admission, him guessing what would happen rather than reporting, it did include some interesting nuggets, including this (emphasis added).
I believe that forecast is the right one because James understands the dynamics of #thisleague as well as any player ever has. And I think he knows, deep down, that the threat of him leaving Lakerland next summer is no threat at all now. It was a worry for every team he played for through the first 22 seasons of his career, but the Lakers’ widely presumed preferred scenario for their future is letting James’ contract drop off their books after the 2025-26 season. Paul’s statement upon announcing the player option decision, which is featured in full further down, essentially hints at this understanding if you read it carefully.
It’s important to note that “widely presumed” is not sourced, but if there’s smoke, that generally means there is fire.
The biggest issue with building a team with LeBron at this stage in his career is the enormous contract. I will never advocate for someone to take a pay cut, especially considering that LeBron was likely underpaid even when he was making the most he could during his career.
But at a price north of $50 million annually, it doesn’t make as much sense for the Lakers to keep him on the roster moving forward. There’s also a basketball argument that having him on the floor doesn’t allow the Lakers to best maximize Luka.
There is a price point where it would make sense for LeBron to remain in purple and gold, but it’s significantly less than $50 million and probably a number that LeBron won’t consider. Add all that up and you get the likely scenario, then, that this is it for LeBron and the Lakers.
Having said all of that, much of this depends on how things play out this season. We are a long, long way from LeBron becoming a free agent next July. Things can change.
Maybe everything really clicks this season and it makes sense to bring LeBron back again. Maybe LeBron expresses a willingness to end his career in Los Angeles around his family and is willing to take significantly less money to do so.
Maybe other teams LeBron might want to sign for don’t share an equal amount of interest and there really isn’t anywhere for him to go.
These are all questions we won’t have answers to until next year. But as things stand, it surely feels like LeBron and the Lakers are set for their swan song.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.