The Lakers were eliminated by the Timberwolves on Wednesday night after losing 103-96 in Game 5. Minnesota went on 16-8 run to end the game, as the Lakers yet again could not buy a bucket late. LeBron James was at the forefront of this again, as he went a combined 2-of-9 from the field in the fourth quarter of Games 4 and 5, while finishing with a plus/minus of -19 in that stretch.
The only question on everyone’s mind now is will the King return for a 23rd season? We knew for years that James was hanging on until his son Bronny got drafted to the league, and now after playing a full season with him, it absolutely begs the question of whether or not he will officially hang it up for good.
There is really nothing left for James to accomplish in his illustrious career. He is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and has both the most All-Star game selections (20) and All-NBA First Team selections (13) in NBA history. He also holds the record for most playoff points (8,162), playoff wins (183) and playoff games played (287). He’s won four championships and made the NBA Finals 10 times.
James has played a whopping 71,063 career minutes when you combine regular season and postseason, and yet has held off father time for 22 years. He finished the 2024-25 season with averages of 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists on 51.3% from the field, so there is no doubt he still has plenty left in the tank if he ultimately decides to return for his age-41 season.
However, even after acquiring Luka Doncic at the trade deadline in February, this Lakers’ roster is not particularly close to competing with the Thunder, Cavs or Celtics right now. James currently has a player-option for the 2025-26 season that would pay him $52.6 million if he chose to return. If he does opt in and chooses not to take a significant pay cut, the Lakers will likely have trouble surrounding him with the requisite talent it would take to make another Finals run.
All of this will need to be mulled over by James and his team this summer, and while it seems likely that he would want some type of retirement tour, it’s also quite possible that he’s simply had enough after spending over 55% of his life in the NBA.
Whatever James decides, he has undoubtedly cemented himself as one of the two-to-three greatest players to ever live.