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At one point earlier this summer, there was speculation that LeBron James might not return to the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2025–26 season.
But after opting into his $52.6 million player option, the all-time leading scorer remains in purple and gold.
His camp and the Lakers recognizing how difficult a trade would be to pull off.
“It has been radio silent since James, via his agent Rich Paul, attempted to rattle the Lakers’ cages immediately after exercising his $52.6 million player option for this season,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon wrote. “The all-time leading scorer and his camp understand just how complicated a trade involving him, at his age, making that much money, with the contractual right to veto any deal, would be.”
James enters his 40th year with no contract extension in place beyond this season.
That uncertainty has only fueled speculation about whether this could be his last year in Los Angeles or even the NBA entirely.
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley recently weighed in, urging James to make a decision sooner rather than later.
“LeBron is going to have to move on at some point. It is what it is,” Barkley said on The Bettor Angle podcast. “Even though he’s been putting up good numbers, they haven’t been successful in probably four years.”
The Lakers, meanwhile, have begun pivoting toward Luka Doncic after last summer’s blockbuster trade brought him to Los Angeles.
“It’s already Luka’s team now,” Barkley added. “You don’t sign and trade for Luka Doncic, give him all that money, and it’s not his team.”
Golden State has reportedly checked in multiple times on pairing James with Stephen Curry, but as Marc Stein reported, Rich Paul warned both teams against pushing too hard in fear of potential backlash.
“Sources say Paul implored both teams to scrap the concept … largely because he wanted to insulate James from potential backlash,” Stein wrote.
READ MORE: Warriors Phoned Lakers ‘On Multiple Occasions’ About LeBron James
