LeBron James has decided to return to the Los Angeles Lakers for a record 23rd NBA season, bypassing free agency by exercising a $52.6 million option, his agent said Sunday. The league's all-time scoring leader wants to compete for a championship for at least one more season and will be watching to see whether the Lakers are putting together a contender in the offseason, Rich Paul told ESPN. "We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future," Paul said, adding that James "wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that."
James, 40, could have opted out of his current contract covering the 2025-26 season and signed a longer one with the Lakers, per USA Today. He hasn't suggested many seasons are left for him but recently said, "I can't play that much further." Last season, his seventh with the Lakers, James averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 51.3% from the field. He was named to the All-NBA team for the 21st consecutive time, a record. James is 50 games from breaking Robert Parish's record for the most played in a regular season, per the Los Angeles Times.