LeBron James will likely return to the Los Angeles Lakers next season after losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
On Tuesday, Charania appeared on the Pat McAfee Show and shared what he knew about the 40-year-old’s future with the team.
“I’m told he’s likely to opt in,” Charania said. “He’s got a player option of $54-57 million. He’s got a massive player option. That’s likely, that’s the plan. His option date is June 29, so he still has about a month to figure [it] out.
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“There’s gonna be some hard conversations that are gonna happen between him [and] the Lakers,” Charania added. “Seeing what this team looks like. Because LeBron James, whether he plays one more season or a few more seasons, he wants to be in a competitive environment.”
James is in the second year of a two-year, $101,355,998 million contract with the Lakers, with a reported cap hit of just over $52.6 million in the 2025-26 season per Spotrac.
In his 22nd campaign in the NBA and seventh in purple and gold, James impressively averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game while shooting 51.3% from the field. That earned him All-NBA second-team honors.
This past season has been eventful for the four-time champion, as the Lakers hired his podcast co-host, JJ Redick, to replace Darvin Ham as their head coach. Days later, the team drafted his son, Bronny James, out of USC with the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
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Despite Bronny and LeBron being the first father-son duo to play in the NBA, his junior spent much of the season swinging between the NBA and the G League.
Los Angeles also acquired Luka Dončić in February in a shocking trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers went on to secure the third seed in the Western Conference with a 50-32 record before falling to the Timberwolves in five games.
James suffered a Grad 2 MCL sprain on his left knee in Game 5 against Minnesota after colliding with Donte DiVincenzo. After getting an MRI, James was given a recovery time of three to five weeks, which would have ended his run of 292 consecutive playoff games played without a miss due to injury, Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported.
