NBA Lakers: LeBron James executes 52.6 million player options Follow the Lakers dynamics

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James will execute his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, Klutch Sports CEO Ritchie Paul told ESPN on Sunday.

Paul said that NBA historical scoring champion James hopes to compete for the championship next season and may later win. He will closely monitor the Lakers' movements and whether the team is preparing for the championship lineup this offseason.

"LeBron wants to compete for the championship," Paul told ESPN. "He knows the Lakers are laying the foundation for the future. He understands that, but he values ​​the real-life opportunity to win everything. We are very grateful for the eight years of working with Bass and Pelinka and see the Lakers as an important part of his career."

"We understand that there are difficulties between winning the future now. We do want to evaluate what is the best for LeBron at the current stage. He wants to use every season he has left, and the Lakers understand that, support him and hope he can live the best."

40-year-old James is in his record 23rd season in the NBA and said he is still not sure whether he wants to play another season or a few more years.

James has a no-trade clause in his contract, and he is still 50 games away from breaking Robert Parish's NBA career regular season appearance record. Next season, he will break Vince Carter's tie for the number of seasons played in NBA history.

Whether James can play for 24 seasons or even longer remains to be seen. James and his wife Savannah went out for dinner in New York this week, with Miami Heat Kevin Love and his wife Kate and other close friends, one of the dinner guests posted a clip of the dinner on Instagram, in which James said: "[Savannah] hopes I retire next year or a year and a half."

As Paul points out, it remains to be seen how much of his future career will stay with the Lakers--although James has made comments in the past. In February 2024, the Warriors consulted the Lakers before trading James. Through Paul, the Warriors told the Lakers that they were not interested, and James expressed his desire to continue playing for the Lakers.

"I am the Lakers, and I've been very happy over the past six years and hope this will continue," James said.

A few months later, the Los Angeles Lakers selected James' eldest son, Brownie James, with the 55th pick, creating a historic father-son combination, and then signed a two-year, $104 million contract renewal with LeBron James in July 2024.

LeBron James chose to participate in his 23rd season of the NBA. He is following the Lakers' offseason dynamics

James is a four-time NBA champion, four-time Finals MVP and four-time league MVP. He has been selected for the All-Star roster 21 times and 21 times; he has also become the first 40-year-old to be selected for the All-Star roster. He joined the Lakers in 2018 and led the team to win the 2020 NBA Championship and the 2023 Western Conference Finals.

He averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game this season, ending his 20 consecutive seasons of at least 25 points per game. He and Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic are the only three players who averaged 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists from December 30 to the end of the season.

James returned to the court this week after he sprained his left knee in Game 5 of the Lakers' first round against the Minnesota Timberwolves. James averaged 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks per game against the Timberwolves, with 40.8 minutes of playing time.

After losing to Minnesota, he spoke openly about the disappointment of not having the chance to compete for a fifth title.

"Every season I didn't make the finals or won the championship was a disappointment for me," James said. "So it's the same for me. It's going to be a disappointing and unrealized season, with the chance to play longer, the chance to compete for the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, nothing has changed for me."

James was asked about the Lakers' desperate need to add a center, coach JJ Redick did not use the starting big player Jaxon Hays in the game and ended the Minnesota series with a small ball lineup, without elaborating on the topic further. James suggested he should hide his thoughts, referring to the Lakers trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks on February 1, and Davis told ESPN nine days ago, "I think we need another big guy."

"Not to tell," James said. "I never say that. Because my friend AD said what he needed and he left next week. So I have nothing to say." The Lakers are pursuing a center through free agency or trade, and forward Dorian Finney-Smith rejected his player option on Sunday, sources said.