NBA Insiders Question If LeBron James ‘Knows Where He’s At’ on Retirement Timeline

ESPN’s Dave McMenamin is not convinced Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James knows yet whether the 2025-26 season will be his last in the NBA.

“I’ve spoken to countless people close to LeBron over the summer… And most of them are telling me I think we’re pretty close to the end, but I don’t know if LeBron knows where he’s at,” McMenamin said at the 6:30 mark of Friday’s episode of NBA Today. “Does he know that this is, from Day 1, going to be the last year? Will he start to feel it? Will he start to feel otherwise, and say, ‘This is a really good Lakers team, and maybe we can do something special and extend it.’

“One person close to him told me at one point: if the Lakers win, is he going to walk away from the chance to defend it, and get six rings versus five?”

McMenamin’s comments come the day after James said on a Thursday episode of Complex’s 360 With Speedy that he is “definitely gearing up to where the end is.”

“I’m not there yet… retirement is coming. It is coming. It’s just not here, just yet,” James said Thursday.

James is currently set to play the 2025-26 season on an expiring contract after picking up his $52.6 million player option with the Lakers.

The Lakers have since signaled their plans to build around Luka Dončić in the long term by signing him to a three-year, $165 million max extension in August.

When James picked up the option in June, his agent Rich Paul told ESPN’s Shams Charania his client “wants to compete for a championship” and “wants to make every season he has left count.”

Whether the Lakers are able to build a championship-caliber team around Dončić this season could ultimately play a role in which direction James decides to take with his NBA career.

James, who will turn 41 in December, is set to break the NBA’s all-time record by returning for a 23rd season this fall. The ramp-up to his eighth season with the Lakers will begin when training camp opens on Sept. 29.

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