Summary of this article
LeBron James' 23rd season ended when the Lakers were eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder
At 41, James likely doesn’t have many years left to play
The Lakers have the seventh-best record in the NBA during James’ eight seasons there
LeBron James has options.
He could stay with the Los Angeles Lakers. He could decide to join another team. He could even retire and end the longest career in NBA history. He knows all this.
He just doesn’t know the answer.
“I don’t know what the future holds for me, obviously,” James said.
His 23rd season ended Monday night when the Lakers were eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder. At 41, James likely doesn’t have many years left to play — if any. And now he’ll start the process of figuring out what he wants to do, what his family wants him to do and what’s best for all parties involved.
Dwyane Wade, James’ longtime friend and former teammate, was on the Amazon Prime broadcast of Game 4 of the Thunder-Lakers series as an analyst. And when the conversation turned to what James is going to do, he had some thoughts.
“That’s the question,” Wade said. “And I think if we all know LeBron James, he’s going to take some time off and go drink some wine, go yacht a little bit around the world. He’s going to spend some time with his family. He’s going to sit down and try to make the best decision for the James family at the end of the day.
“And then from there, you’ve got to look at the picture of the Lakers,” Wade continued. “LeBron, Year 24 coming back next year if he does, he wants to play for something. So, are they in a position that he can play for something and compete for something?”
Salary will be another issue. He made nearly $53 million this season. He could command somewhere around $60 million next season if he wanted. If he gives a team a discount to preserve flexibility, he could certainly afford to do so.
Wade doesn’t seem to think that’s likely.
“History shows that Mr. James ain’t taking a lot of discounts, right? I don’t think no one knows,” Wade said. “I think one of the things that him and his entire team have been great at is they hold their cards close to their chest. Decisions are made by LeBron, and they all respect it. And they wait on him to decide what he wants to do.”
A look at some of what James’ next moves could be (and for purposes of this exercise, the realities of the salary cap, the aprons, tax ramifications and whatever James will command in salary if he decides to keep playing do not apply.
Retirement
This one doesn’t seem likely even though James posted the lowest scoring average of his career — 20.933 points per game, down a teeny-tiny sliver from his 20.937 average as a rookie. Another made free throw this season would have been enough to keep this season’s average from being his worst.
The pessimists, or the anti-LeBron crowd, can say — accurately — that his numbers are declining. They are. He averaged 30.3 points in 2021-22, and his per-game scoring average has fallen in every season since, going to 28.9 in 2022-23, 25.7 in 2023-24, 24.4 last season and 20.9 this season.
Of course, his role has changed as well and that has some effect on the numbers. James spent much of this season as the Lakers’ third option behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and did so happily.
Stay with the Lakers
To be fair, this wasn’t a bad season. Getting ousted in Round 2 by the overwhelming favorite to win the NBA title — the defending champion, too — isn’t exactly a collapse, and Doncic not being able to play because of injury almost made the outcome expected.
The Lakers have the seventh-best record in the NBA during James’ eight seasons there. Not great, not bad. But the playoffs, even with the run to the bubble championship in 2020, have not been to James’ expectations. The Lakers went 32-31 in playoff games during these last eight seasons, and remember, 16 of those wins came in the bubble. Since then, the Lakers are just 16-26 in playoff games.
Good enough? It wouldn’t seem so. The Lakers will have to give James reasons to stay. It’s simple as that.
Return to Miami
James’ jersey will sway from the rafters one day in Miami, assuming he ever actually retires and allows such tributes to finally take place. And there’s no question that James still holds many people within the organization — Pat Riley, Erik Spoelstra and more — in high regard.
But it’s not like James has unfinished business in Miami. He became a champion in Miami; two of his four titles were won with the Heat. He’d be welcome, of course, but it’s hard to envision James saying Miami would be the place for his final act.
Return to Cleveland
Northeast Ohio is home and will forever be close to James’ heart. He’s still (and forever will be) beloved there, and whatever anger existed over him leaving in 2010 was washed away forever when he delivered Cleveland’s NBA title in 2016.
Time healed all wounds. If James wants to go the sentimental route, he might go home again. It would likely be contingent on the Cavaliers finding a way to keep a roster that’s capable of contention.
He takes his talents to New York
The Knicks have tried and failed before to land James.
They have some serious selling points right now — among them, a good team and Madison Square Garden. That’s a place James has always revered.
The bright lights of New York wouldn’t scare him off. Then again, wherever James plays, the lights will be bright there, too.
Pair up with Stephen Curry again
James won Olympic gold in Paris in 2024 with Steve Kerr coaching and Stephen Curry starring at the end.
The respect James has for Curry is off the charts, and he’s often raved about Kerr as well. Kerr’s coming back to the Warriors, and you know Golden State will do anything it can to give Curry one more chance at a title.
Bear in mind, it’s highly improbable that this would ever work financially. But if James wants to play there, the Warriors will surely find a way.
The wild scenario: James and Wemby?
The greatest scorer ever teaming up with the game’s most prolific defensive player in San Antonio? Now that would be fun.
James is one of the people who dubbed Victor Wembanyama as an “alien” and did so with the utmost of respect. James is unlike anyone the league has ever seen, and Wembanyama might be thought of in the same way.
And even though Gregg Popovich doesn’t coach the Spurs anymore, he’s still there and James has always had the utmost respect for the NBA’s winningest coach. James would be accused of ring-chasing if he tried this one, but then again, he knows detractors won’t like anything he does anyway.
