LeBron James Contemplates Future: Retirement or Return to the Court?

The stage was perfectly set for LeBron James to reveal his next big move.

While his fellow NBA All-Stars addressed the media on Saturday, James opted for a Sunday appearance, a tradition he’s maintained for the past four years. However, this year held special significance, as the league’s marquee event took place in Los Angeles, where James has been a key player for the Lakers over the last eight seasons.

James has a flair for storytelling, and anticipation was at an all-time high. Social media buzzed with excitement.

Would this be the moment when one of the greatest athletes of our era announced his retirement or a groundbreaking 24th season?

Unfortunately, the answer was no.

When James was asked if he knew what he’s going to do, he kicked the can. 

“I want to live,” James said. “When I know, you guys will know. I don’t know. I have no idea. I just want to live. That’s all.”

James, who will become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has 28 regular-season games left to figure out his future. 

Will he return to the Lakers? Will he tie a bow on his career by joining the Cavaliers, the team that drafted him as an 18-year-old in 2003? Will he team up with Steph Curry, whom he has singled out as the one player he’d most love to play alongside? 

Or will he hang up his jersey for good?

As the Lakers make a playoff push, there’s a shadow hanging over them in the form of a question mark. If James retires, it would be the end of an era. It would mean we’d no longer get to watch arguably the greatest player of all time.

LeBron James and basketball have been synonymous for 23 years. 

He’s still the biggest of stars. He was the Olympics MVP in 2024. He was sixth in NBA MVP voting last season. He became the oldest player in league history to record a triple-double Thursday against the Mavs at age 41. 

Sure, James’ stats are down a bit this season after he missed the first 14 games because of sciatica. But we’re not seeing the fading of a star. If James retired, it would be the disappearance of a star.   

James is steeling himself for things to come to an end.  

He teared up while watching a tribute video in Cleveland. He regularly talks about how special it is to share a locker room with his son, Bronny. He’s taking everything in as though it were the last time. 

Sometimes he’s in the mood to talk about where his head is at. Sometimes he’s not. On Sunday, it was the latter. 

When asked if he’s still interested in owning an NBA team with the league on the verge of a possible expansion, he was noncommittal. 

“There’s a lot of things that I have on the table that I could tap into if I want to, that being one of them,” he said. 

When asked if he has thought about what he wants the rest of his life to look like after he stops playing, he didn’t talk about work. 

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“No, I think what I want to do at 45, 50 and 55 will be a lot of creating great vibes and fun with my family and my friends,” he said. 

Three years ago during his All-Star media availability, he called the stretch run “the 23 most important regular-season games of my career.” When asked if he felt a similar urgency now considering his future is unknown, he denied that his impending decision colors anything. 

“No. We’re gearing up toward the postseason,” he said. “It has nothing to do with that. Same motivation. Same mind factor. We’ve gotten past the marathon, and the sprint is about to start. I think everybody understands that.”

As for this season, James said everything is going to come down to the Lakers’ health. He, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have only played 10 games together. Meanwhile, the team added new pieces in Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia over the summer, while trading for Luke Kennard earlier this month. 

When asked about the Lakers’ potential to contend, he acknowledged he didn’t know their ceiling. 

“It’s too hard to really say what we’re capable of,” he said. “I know that when we’ve played some of our best basketball of the season, we’ve looked very good. On the other side, when we’ve been terrible, we’ve looked disgusting.”

On Sunday, it was clear James wanted to focus on the present. 

He wanted to enjoy sharing the court with Curry and Kevin Durant. He wanted to take in what could possibly be his final All-Star Game. 

He didn’t want to talk. 

As he said, he wanted to live.