LeBron James has ‘no expectation’ to retire, per NBA insider Shams Charania

With his 22nd season in the association ending last night, LeBron James will enter another offseason considering his future. That said, that future will likely extend through at least one more season, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Charania discussed what’s next for James, following the exit of the Los Angeles Lakers out of the NBA Playoffs with a 4-1 series loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, while on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Thursday. It’s something to keep an eye on, but at the moment, there’s nothing to suggest that James won’t be back next season in the NBA.

“That’s the other big elephant in the room for the Lakers…Yeah, I mean, for sure. How long is LeBron James going to play?” Charania thought. “There’s no expectation for LeBron James to retire. I will say that. My sense, my understanding is he will play at least another NBA season.”

“The expectation is he’s going to be playing at least another season. But, again, how long?” said Charania.

James had a similar, reserved answer last night after the season-ending, 103-96 loss to the ‘Wolves in LA. He’ll have the conversations he needs to have this offseason about the eventual end of his career and go from there about what his plans are for next season and beyond.

“I don’t know. I don’t have an answer to that. Something I’ll sit down with my family and my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it and see what happens. And just have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play,” James said postgame. “I don’t know the answer to that right now, to be honest, so we’ll see.”

“We saw his answer last night. He was very non-committal and every time a Lakers season, or really a Cavs season in the past, a Miami Heat season in the past, has ended since he’s been like 25, 26, what he’s been saying is ‘I’m going to take time with my family, I’m going to talk to my advisors, my support system and I’m going to come back and I’m going to make a decision on where I’m going to land at,” said Charania. “Before, it was about free agency. Before, it was about where he was going to end up. Now, it’s about is he going to play anymore and how long he’s going to play.”

James, at 40 years old, just averaged 24.4 points (51.3% FG, 37.6% 3PT), 8.2 assists, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game in leading the Lakers to a 50-32 record during his seventh season with the franchise. That earned his 21st honor All-Star nod with him likely to earn a 21st selection soon as All-NBA, both of which are league records. LA, however, is done after the first round for the second consecutive postseason. This is the fourth time in five years since winning the title that they’ll either miss the playoffs or not advance beyond the opening series.

Still, with him turning 41 in December, James could soon start to consider the end of his basketball career. He did so publicly just last offseason before returning for ’24-’25. Now, Charania thinks ’25-’26 could line up as a potential stopping point for the all-time player.

“You think about next year, 2025-26? It’ll be year 23. That would set a league record – year 23 for No. 23. The All-Star Game is in Los Angeles, potentially playing in Los Angeles,” explained Charania. “There’s a lot of stars that would align for next season, potentially, if that’s what LeBron James decides. He’d be 41 years old in December. He’s 40 years old right now.”

However, coming off a season playing with son Bronny James, Charania noted the factor of his other son in Bryce James. Bryce will be a freshman at Arizona next season and, if he were to have a chance to be selected in the 2026 NBA Draft, James could play into ’26-’27 and complete the family affair.

“The other thing is, does the Bryce James, his son – does that factor play into it at all?” Charania wondered. “His son is going to be, potentially, draft-eligible in 2026 next year. So, if he feels, at some point next year, Bryce James might be an NBA player, might be a draft-eligible player, does he extend that window? I think that’s the only potential caveat that you’d think of out there that could keep LeBron James even longer than at least one more year.”

There’s also no guarantee that James remains with the Los Angeles Lakers considering he still remains on a two-year deal with a player option for next season. The expectation, though, is that he will opt in to being back in Hollywood, under the assumption that more roster changes are coming, until he does eventually hang it up.

“Either way, him coming back to the Lakers? There’s going to be a lot of questions. He has got a $54 million player option so, what do you do there? Do you opt in? Do you opt out? My feel is that he probably opts into that,” said Charania. “And then, from there, it’s like, what does the Lakers roster look like? Because this was a LeBron James, at 40 years old, that was playing games and playing significant minutes as a center and I don’t expect that to be in his future to be playing the center position at 41 years old. That’s just not sustainable for LeBron James at this point of his career.”

“He hasn’t indicated anything otherwise. I mean, to leave Los Angeles at this point in his life, in his career? I mean, I guess you never say never. You never say never but he, all the indications would be that that’s where he would retire,” said Charania. “He’s said it publicly that that’s where he would want to retire.”

There will one day, possibly soon, be an NBA without James in it anymore. According to Charania, though, that likely won’t be for at least another year.