LeBron James is exercising his 52.6 million option with the Los Angeles Lakers for 2025-26, further confirming that he will become the first player in NBA history to play a 23rd season, a person with knowledge of the decision said Sunday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither James nor the team announced the decision publicly.
ESPN and The Athletic were among those to first report the decision.
James, who recently returned to on-court workouts after taking several weeks to recover after spraining a knee ligament in the Lakers' final game of this past season's playoffs, told the AP earlier this month that he expected to be ready for training camp. That was an obvious sign he planned on returning for a 23rd year, one in which he'll break a tie with Vince Carter for longest NBA career by a player.
"I have a lot of time to take care of my injury, my knee, the rest of my body and make sure I'm as close to 100 as possible when training camp begins in late September," James said in that interview.