Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James will make history as soon as he steps on the floor for the 2025-26 season as it will mark Year 23, the most regular seasons played in the NBA.
James is no stranger to career milestones as he is at or near the top of every statistical category, giving him a massive case in the greatest of all time debate. However, LeBron looks motivated to still compete for titles and he made sure the Lakers knew that when he opted into his player option for next season. There are some serious doubts as to whether or not James will remain in Los Angeles past this upcoming year, but for now he’s committed to winning his fifth ring with the purple and gold.
During the 2024-25 campaign, James continued to show the world that he remains in the top tier of NBA players as he led the Lakers to the third seed in a competitive Western Conference. For his efforts, James was named to the All-NBA Second Team but more importantly proved to the front office that he’s still worth building around.
With the season quickly approaching, NBA 2K has been slowly teasing player rankings and have finally got to the top-10. James’ reputation as one of the game’s best was reflected in his ranking as he came in at 94:
LeBron James is the 7th highest rated player in #NBA2K26 at 94 OVR!
@KingJames | #NBA2KTop100 pic.twitter.com/FRiLuN6NXK
— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) August 21, 2025
James ranks seventh on the list, behind the likes of Nikola Jokic (98), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (98), Giannis Antetokounmpo (98), Luka Doncic (95) and Anthony Edwards (95), tied with Stephen Curry (94), Jayson Tatum (94) and Victor Wembanyama (94), and ahead of Kevin Durant (93). Perhaps more notable is the fact that his Lakers co-star Doncic is ahead of him in the ratings, giving Los Angeles the best duo on paper according to the video game. Austin Reaves is third on the team with an 85 rating.
It speaks to how highly regarded James is that he still ranks in the top-10 despite being the oldest player in the NBA. James is by far the exception to the rule when it comes to older veterans in the league as no one besides Abdul-Jabbar can claim to be anywhere this good during the downswing of their career.
Rob Pelinka respecting LeBron James’ wishes but believes retiring with Lakers would be great
LeBron James hasn’t made it known if this season will be his final one in the NBA or not, but there’s a real chance it’s at least his last one in Los Angeles. While president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka is respecting James’ wishes, he believes it would be great if he retired with the Lakers.
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