Many rumors have arisen ever since LeBron James exercised his $52.6 million player option for this upcoming 2025-26 campaign this past weekend, as confirmed by his agent Rich Paul. While many wonder if his choice works as an advantage for the Lakers, the veteran is still looking for NBA titles. 

The league’s all-time leading scorer chose to continue representing the purple and gold organization because he believes the franchise has what it takes to fight for next year’s championship, but will be closely monitoring the club’s moves during the summer.

“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” said Klutch Sports CEO. “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.”

Paul then added: “We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”

The 40-year-old is set to enter his record-breaking 23rd campaign in the NBA, but hasn’t been open about how many more seasons he’ll compete in. What we do know is that James loves to break a record, and he’s still 50 matches away from overcoming Robert Parish’s mark for most career regular-season games.

Recently, LeBron went out to dinner in New York with his wife Savannah and Kevin Love and his partner, and in a short video he can be heard saying, “[Savannah] wants me to f—ing retire in the next year or so.”

With his son Bronny playing alongside him in Los Angeles, you’d guess the veteran will want to stay put. Even though teams such as the Warriors showed interest in his services, he’s been clear on his intentions. “I am a Laker, and I’m happy and been very happy being a Laker the last six years and hopefully it stays that way,” James shared in February.

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