After time on the sidelines caused by a sciatic nerve, 40-year-old LeBron James has slowly come back to the Los Angeles Lakers practice. Although he hasn’t set a target date for his return to game play, league insiders believe the four-time champion is very thinking about prolonging his career beyond this year, and perhaps even beyond his present contract.
LeBron James is still a key part of the Lakers’ long-term strategy even as he approaches his third decade in the league. Ensuring he stays purple and gold for at least one more campaign, he exercised his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season earlier this year. Should he play next season, it would be his amazing 23rd year in the NBA, an accomplishment never done in league history.
James is on the cusp of shattering one of the NBA’s most famous marks as well. With 1,562 regular-season games under his belt, he is about 50 games shy of eclipsing Robert Parish’s all-time mark of 1,611.
A Champion Seeing How Much More He Can Do: LeBron James Defies Age but Faces an Uncertain Future
The Los Angeles Lakers’ great keeps challenging age, producing statistics last season that many athletes in their prime would covet. With averages of 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists over 70 games, he confirmed his reputation as one of basketball’s unusual long-term outliers after LeBron James decided on his player option with the Los Angeles Lakers for the next season.
Still, neither James nor the Lakers had any talks about renewing his contract beyond 2026 despite ongoing conjecture about his future, a decision seen by some managers as evidence that the end might be coming.
Nevertheless, health is still the defining factor. James has been open about the necessity of knowing how his body reacts as he increases activity after his most recent setback. James has stressed that the following 24 hours after the practice would be very crucial in deciding how soon he would go back to his full speed.