ESPN’s Shams Charania Weighs in on LeBron James’s Future With Lakers

James's future in the NBA is up in the air at least for the next month.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James reacts to a play. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

There's a big question mark surrounding LeBron James and his future in the NBA for the 2025-26 season and beyond.

James will be entering his 23rd year in the league next season, if he chooses not to retire. It's seemingly likely that James will still play, but the question then shifts to what team will he compete for. He has to decide before June 29 if he wants to opt-in to his player option with the Los Angeles Lakers.

NBA insider Shams Charania thinks James will be opting in to return to the Lakers for at least one more year. This gives James some flexibility when looking ahead to his future in the league.

"I'm told he's likely to opt-in," Charania said on the Pat McAfee Show. "He's got a player option about $54 million. He's got a massive player option, that's the plan. ... There's going to be some hard conversations that are going to happen between him, the Lakers, seeing what this team looks like because listen, LeBron James whether he plays one more season or a few more seasons, he wants to be in a competitive environment."

"I'm told LeBron James is likely to opt in..

He's got a massive player option and that's the plan..

He still has about a month to figure that out"@ShamsCharania #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/8mzUsMCU9r

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 27, 2025

If James opts in, then he will be able to either sign a bigger extension with the Lakers or decide to make the 2025-26 season his final year with the Lakers or in the NBA in general. He is not expected to take a pay cut if he opts in to his player option.

Like Charania mentioned, there's some roster moves that James will likely want the Lakers to focus on in order for him to be interested in staying, starting with the team landing a solid center after they lost Anthony Davis in February.

James does have a month to still ponder on his options, but it wouldn't be very surprising if he chooses to pick up his player option with the Lakers to have at least one more dance with them.

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