After yet another exit in the first round in the playoffs, LeBron James opts in with the Los Angeles Lakers with his player option to play one more year with the Purple & Gold as he seeks to come up with another championship run heading into the 2025-26 NBA season. With this decision, James now becomes the first player to play a 23rd season in the history of the league.

James is slated to earn $52.6 million on his final deal with the Los Angeles Lakers and will become a free agent by July 2026 provided that he does not sign any other deals with the Lakers or other teams. On top of that LeBron also returned to on-court workouts this week after taking some time to recover from his sprained knee ligament that he suffered in Game 5 of the First Round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.

In that regard, it seems that Los Angeles will be keeping its main star for one more year as they hope to come up with a promising campaign that will have them ready for another competitive run. After all, James is still seeking his first NBA title since winning last 2020, and that would be a legendary finish to his already majestic NBA career.

Was There Any Doubt?

Ahead of the final games of the 2025 NBA Finals, James has released a few videos detailing his future and hinting at one more season to play in the NBA at the very least. LeBron, at the very least, didn’t have any doubts about staying in the league as he still has a very healthy finish compared to most players.

“I have a lot of time to take care of my injury, my knee, the rest of my body and make sure I’m as close to 100% as possible when training camp begins in late September,” James said in that interview.

James is known well for his longevity in the league. He has rarely missed a lot of games in a single season, and is rarely hurt and struck by major injuries that we have seen from the likes of Tyrese Haliburton most recently. So far, it seems that LeBron is keen to return to play one more year for now.

While talks about his retirement are still largely buzzing, this decision by the four-time MVP is certainly going to trim a lot of those discussions moving forward into the offseason.

Big LeBron Run Coming Up

As he is set to return, LeBron will now be playing alongside his co-star Luka Doncic for the first time in a full year. Doncic was traded last February to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis. While they did made better strides en route to the playoffs, Los Angeles eventually fell to Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round in five games.

Still, the Lakers finished at a satisfactory pace as the third seed in the West. James is also set to turn 41 this December – although it is unlikely to affect his level of play. If you are not impressed, note that James has averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists in the previous campaign – that is way better than many other young players in the league right now. Oh, and he is still slated to add more to his points tally as the NBA’s All-Time scoring leader.