LeBron James is not done. The 41-year-old has decided to keep his NBA career going into a 24th season, which would set a league record. But the next chapter won’t come in Los Angeles.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday, just before free agency officially opened, that James informed the Lakers he intends to play elsewhere next season. Rich Paul, Klutch Sports CEO, told ESPN: “BREAKING: LeBron James will continue his NBA career for the 2026-27 season and has informed the Los Angeles Lakers that the franchise can move on without him because he will play elsewhere, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul tells ESPN. pic.twitter.com/zzVk6xUVF1”
What comes next is still unresolved. A return to Cleveland remains one possibility, and reports have also tied James to Golden State.
The Warriors have shown interest in pairing him with Steph Curry, a combo that already existed on Team USA at the 2024 Olympics. Draymond Green declined his player option for the upcoming season in an effort to help make that happen.
James just finished another productive season in Los Angeles. During the 2025-26 campaign, he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 33.2 minutes across 60 games. He turned it up in the playoffs, posting 23.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game, but the Lakers were eliminated in the second round after being swept by the Thunder.
Even now, James keeps stacking numbers that belong in a museum. Entering the 2026-27 season, he stands as the NBA’s all-time leader in more than a dozen regular-season categories and owns nearly every major postseason record.
He already leads the league in points (43,440), games (1,622), minutes (61,030) and field goals made (15,961). He’s also sixth in three-pointers (2,636), fourth in assists (12,061), sixth in steals (2,417) and 24th in rebounds (12,095).
There’s still room for those totals to climb. With another strong season, James could move into the top 20 in rebounds and is in position to pass Jason Kidd (12,091) for third place on the assists list. He could even put Chris Paul’s No. 2 mark (12,552) in play.
His résumé goes well beyond the counting stats. James owns the highest value over replacement player in NBA history at 156.61, ranks first in career box plus/minus at 8.53 and is the only player ever to reach 40,000 points, 11,500 rebounds and 11,500 assists. He has won four MVP awards, made 22 All-Star teams and earned a record 13 first-team All-NBA selections, along with four second-team honors and three third-team nods.
The chase, though, has always been about championships. James has four rings and was named Finals MVP each time. His most recent title came with the Lakers in the NBA’s COVID-19 bubble in 2020.
His career path has already taken him through multiple stops. Cleveland made him the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NBA draft, and he played there through the 2009-10 season. The Cavaliers reached the Finals in 2007 and were swept by the Spurs, then James left in 2010 after repeated postseason failures.
He then joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. The Heat lost to the Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals, but won back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013 before falling to the Spurs in 2014.
After that loss, James returned to Cleveland for four seasons. The Cavaliers lost to the Warriors in the Finals in his first year back, then he led the franchise from down 3-1 to a seven-game win over Golden State in 2015 for its first title.
Cleveland lost the 2017 and 2018 Finals to the Warriors before James moved on again and signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2018.
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