Showing flashes of the past with Lakers, James confronts his future

LeBron James’ chest heaved, and sweat dripped off his brow, as he tried to rev his engine for the first time in a month.

Everything had changed for the Los Angeles Lakers the game before they played the Dallas Mavericks on April 6. James’ new life as a third option was gone in the blink of a pair of muscle strains, first to Austin Reaves and then to Luka Doncic.

James had stepped back so the Lakers could win, so they could put together a credible chance at a championship. Now, without their two leading scorers, there was no more time for complementing. As it has been for almost all of his career, it was all on James again.

If there was ever a reason to push this 41-year-old body that had logged the most minutes and games in NBA history to its absolute limits, this was it. And whether this is his last stand before retirement or yet another improbable chapter in his storied career, he would embrace the chance to remind the masses that this is how his legacy was built.

James led his Lakers team into the playoffs as heavy underdogs against the Houston Rockets. But against the odds, the Lakers were 3-0 after Game 3 on Friday. In Game 1, James tallied 19 points and 13 assists in 38 minutes of action. In Game 2, he scored 28 points in 39 minutes. In Game 3, he scored 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in 45 minutes.

Over 23 NBA seasons and 18 playoff appearances, James has been here before. Whether he will ever be here again is a different story entirely.

Team and league sources granted anonymity to speak openly say that James has made no decisions regarding his future, and that retirement remains a real possibility. The notion that James would want a farewell tour -- long cited as evidence that this season was not his last -- is false, those people said.

That warmup session in Dallas came shortly after the Lakers had played their best basketball since the 2019-20 championship season, a stretch of play that helped stoke James’ passion for winning and helped repair bridges that had been damaged during his eight years with the Lakers.

After months of speculation that the two parties were headed for a divorce, a strong March changed the Lakers’ landscape and, potentially, the future between the organization and the player. Winning increased the chances of James and the Lakers extending their partnership. And now, the team is guaranteed to still be playing in May.

Around the league, rumors also persist that one last run in Cleveland or a superstar pairing with Stephen Curry with Golden State is a plausible possibility. Per team sources, the Warriors’ interest in James this summer remains serious. The Cavs, and the prospect of a goodbye tour where James’ journey began, are also still widely seen by rival executives as a legitimate option. But in both cases, the luxury tax poses obstacles that probably mean James would have to make major financial concessions to come their way.

His decision, whatever it might ultimately be, will undoubtedly have family considerations heavily factored in. James is teammates with his son Bronny, whose contract runs through next season with a team option for 2027-28. His wife, Savannah, and 11-year-old daughter, Zhuri, have lived in Los Angeles since James came from Cleveland in 2018. His youngest son, Bryce, is on the Arizona men’s basketball team.

For now, though, he is the Lakers’ leader -- his relationship with the team, coaching staff and organization all in a good place -- for the team’s playoff challenge.

‘Nothing Left to Prove’

During James’ only game in Cleveland this season, on Jan. 28, he wiped tears from his eyes during an in-game video tribute.

“Didn’t expect that,” he said.

Before that game, two of James’ teammates saw TV cameras and Ohio media members hanging out around James’ locker while they chatted up the player they used to cover.

One player was convinced that James would continue to play, that the early-season rust from the sciatica injury that cost him training camp, the preseason and the first 14 games had just begun to shed and that he had a lot to offer. The other thought James was headed to retirement.

“There’s nothing left to prove,” the second Lakers player reasoned. “It’s like playing a video game you’ve already beaten 80 times. You’ve done it.”

That night, those players agreed that they did not know what would happen with James beyond this season -- other than that they did not think he would be with the Lakers.

As recently as last summer, there were strong signs that the partnership between James and the Lakers might be nearing an end. The most revealing piece of evidence came in late June, when James picked up the $52.6 million player option on his deal and there was no offer from the Lakers to add years to his contract. For a player of his stature, one who has been relentlessly recruited for the entirety of his career, this was a notable shift.

Then James’ agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, questioned whether the Lakers were willing to build a championship contender before James’ playing days were done. An ESPN report in late January, highlighting the sometimes-difficult dynamics between James and longtime owner Jeanie Buss, only made matters worse.

“It’s really not right, given all the great things LeBron has done for the Lakers, that he has to be pulled into my family drama,” Buss told The Athletic in response to the ESPN story. “To say that it wasn’t appreciated is just not true and completely unfair to him.”

Two of the NBA’s biggest entities -- a marquee franchise and its largest individual star -- seemed, even to Lakers players, like two massive steamships slowly pushing apart without the ability to make a quick course correction.

A Sudden Shift

But the landscape has changed dramatically, with developments unfolding on and off the floor that could lead James to remain with the Lakers.

Injuries to James, Doncic and Reaves throughout the season kept the Lakers’ best players from finding real rhythm with one another, leading to some levels of on-court discomfort among the three. People around the team said the stars often worried about making sure everyone was involved enough, fearing the fallout from establishing a clear hierarchy.

Wins over New York and Minnesota at home in March with James dealing with his nagging foot issues, though, made it clear to the NBA’s all-time leading scorer that it would be best for him to take a step back for the betterment of the team.

“I’m not an idiot. I understand,” he said later on his Mind the Game podcast. “I’m well aware of my game and what I can do for a basketball team.”

James told Doncic and Reaves to forget about him on the court, that they simply needed to play freely like they did without him. He would figure out how to bend his game to suit them.

In 11 games during March with that hierarchy established, James starred in his complementary role. He averaged just 18 points but did it on 55% shooting from the field. He grabbed 7.5 rebounds and handed out 7.1 assists. The Lakers went 15-2 in that month.

James celebrated the successes of Doncic and Reaves on his social media stories, and he golfed with his coaches and teammates during a lengthy road trip while belief seeped into the locker room that the team was capable of a deeper playoff run than even they expected earlier in the year.

Then, in a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 2, the Lakers lost both Doncic and Reaves. And just like that, it set them on a different course, again pushing James to the front of the Lakers’ line as their hope for the year deflated.

After the Injuries

As the Lakers regrouped following the injuries to Reaves and Doncic, James began to forge a new path for his team.

In wins against the Warriors (without Curry), Phoenix Suns (without Devin Booker and Utah Jazz, James averaged 24 points and 9.7 assists on 56.3/50/72.2 shooting splits, still throwing down the age-defying dunks in transition like he had all year as the league’s top fast-break scorer. Just now it was Luke Kennard and Bronny James on the assists instead of Doncic and Reaves.

The NBA rewarded his play during the stretch by naming him the Western Conference player of the week.

“I think it was really frustrating for him not to be there Day 1 of training camp, and it was really frustrating for him to not be there on opening night,” coach JJ Redick said after the regular-season finale. “He played in 60 of the 68 remaining games, and he played in a bunch of back to backs. He had not a good season, not a great -- he had a remarkable season, all things considered. You take away the fact that he’s in his 23rd year and he’s 41 years old, he had a remarkable season.

“The fact that those things are real -- and they’re very real in terms of the day-to-day management -- it’s unbelievable what he did this year.”

James finished the season as just one of four players to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Doncic, Nikola Jokic and young Atlanta Hawks star Jalen Johnson were the others. It is James’ sixth time hitting those marks since he joined the Lakers -- becoming the oldest player in league history with those averages each time he has done it.

That is one of the biggest, and probably best, arguments against James’ retirement: He is simply still too good. And with the playoffs, he has another chance to add to his legacy -- with or without Doncic and Reaves, who are still on the shelf.

The pressure on the Lakers because of the injuries is relatively low, the ask of James so large that it is almost impossible to fathom. It’s a situation built for him to either be the hero or, at minimum, a brave warrior doing his best to extend the season.

“Win-win,” one team source said.

So far, he has been up to the task of hero.

“The moment is all we have,” James said at a practice before the playoffs began. “At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Copyright 2026 The New York Times Company

This story was originally published April 25, 2026 at 1:27 PM.