The Los Angeles Lakers may have yet another thing to thank the Dallas Mavericks and their general manager Nico Harrison for.
LeBron James is 40 years old and coming off a disappointing postseason exit as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, raising questions of retirement. However, it appears the former Mavericks superstar, Luka Doncic, could play a key role in prolonging James' career.
NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN revealed on The Pat McAfee Show the latest on James' future plans, and while he didn't directly mention Doncic, his part in it feels implied.
"There's no expectation for LeBron James to retire," Charania began. "My sense, my understanding, is he will play at least another NBA season. You think about next year, 2025-26, it will be year 23. That would set a league record... The All-Star Game is in Los Angeles. He's potentially playing in Los Angeles. There's a lot of stars that would align for next season potentially if that's what LeBron James decides."
With Anthony Davis as his co-star, James found little success following their NBA Bubble championship in 2020. It's hard to blame Davis for their woes from 2021 to 2024, but it was a proven sample size of shortcomings. If the now-Mavericks center remained in L.A., James would have no reason to expect a different outcome next season.
Alternatively, in his first year with JJ Redick calling the shots and Doncic as his running mate, the Lakers cracked 50 wins for the first time since the title year. James may view this as a sneak peek of what's to come in 2026. An offseason that gives GM Rob Pelinka time to construct a strong roster surrounding the superstar tandem and a summer for Doncic and James to build chemistry could persuade the latter to pass on retirement at least one more time.
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"The expectation is he's going to be playing at least another season. He's very noncommittal. Either way, him coming back to the Lakers, there's going to be a lot of questions. He's got a $54 million player option. My feel is he probably opts into that, and then from there, it's like, what does the Lakers' roster look like?" Charania concluded.
There are a plethora of motives for James to return but also retire, which means it will take serious time to come to a decision.
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