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LOS ANGELES - It’s official.
LeBron James will return to the Los Angeles Lakers for his 23rd NBA season.
LeBron James exerices his player option
What we know:
At age 40, the league’s all-time leading scorer will return to the Lakers.
Over the weekend, his agent and Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul confirmed with ESPN he’s exercising his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season.
Paul told ESPN that James "wants to compete for a championship" and that "we are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years for Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career."
James not only became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a record previously held by legendary Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, while donning a Lakers uniform, but he also made history last season when he and his son, Bronny, became the league’s first father-son duo to play in a game at the same time.
His youngest son, Bryce James, will play at the University of Arizona in the fall.
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What we don't know:
While James is set to return to the Lakers next season, it’s unclear whether the season will be his last or if he'll decide to play elsewhere when he becomes a free agent next summer.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst, who has covered James since he was in high school, questioned how the Lakers have handled the move.
"It's not a rule that you put out a statement when a player picks up an option, but it is customary and the Lakers did not do that," Windhorst said Monday on "Get Up."
"I had to actually check with the team and the league… and they said yes, the paperwork went through," he said. "Last year when LeBron signed a contract extension, Rob Pelinka had about a 115-word quote talking about how wonderful LeBron James is… yesterday, there was no statement."
Dig deeper:
Despite having a dynamic duo of James and Luka Dončić, the Lakers were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. The Men in Purple and Gold haven’t made it past the first round of the playoffs since 2023. That season, they lost to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.
James suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain during Game 5 of the first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves in May and has since returned to basketball activity, ESPN reported.
James said he remains determined to win his fifth title.
"Every season that I did not make it to the Finals or did not win the championship has been a disappointment," James said after being eliminated in May. "So, it'd be the same for me. It'd be the same offseason of disappointment and unfulfillment, having an opportunity to play longer and give yourself an opportunity to play for the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Nothing changes for me."
The Lakers front office is set to make some moves during free agency and will begin operating under new ownership in the near future.
The Source: Information from ESPN and previous FOX 11 reports.
LeBron JamesLos Angeles Lakers