The NBA will receive an advance notice before Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James retires because the 21-time All-Star wants to end his playing career with a “farewell tour,” according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.
LeBron James Wants All Of The Glitz And The Glam
Fedor said that he spoke with James when he traveled with the Lakers for a road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. When asked if that game would be his last time playing the Cavs on the road, James “laughed it off,” Fedor said during Friday’s Wine and Gold Talk podcast episode.
“Based on everything that I know about LeBron and all the conversations that I’ve had with people in his general orbit, I believe that LeBron is going to make it known that he is going to retire before he retires,” Fedor added.
“It’s not going to be a situation where he plays out the final year, and then in the offseason he just retires. “The sense that I get is, LeBron wants it all. He wants the farewell tour. He wants all of these different franchises reliving all of his moments against them. And he wants all of the glitz and the glam.”
Fedor concluded: “If it is 2025-26 when he calls it quits, he’s going to let it be known, I would think, coming into this year, that ‘Oh, by the way, this is going to be my final year in the NBA.’ And I would not doubt if that revelation comes on his own Mind the Game podcast rather than anywhere else.”
Lakers Are Building For The Future
James later opted into his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season with the Lakers.
Rich Paul, James’ agent, hinted that this upcoming season could be his client’s final campaign with the franchise by saying in a June statement to ESPN’s Shams Charania that James “knows the Lakers are building for the future,” and the four-time MVP “wants to make every season he has left count.”
James is on the second season of a two-year, $101.4 million contract that he signed with the Lakers last July. He and Damian Lillard are the only NBA players with a no-trade clause in their contracts.
The right to have a no-trade clause is earned after a player has spent at least eight years in the league and at least four years with the particular team he signs with, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. A player is not allowed to add a no-trade clause in an extension.
Despite the trade rumors surrounding James this offseason, the Lakers expect the future Hall of Famer to attend training camp later this summer.
Per The Athletic’s Dan Woike and Joe Vardon, league sources said, “Amid the constant speculation recently about his future, both the Lakers and people close to the NBA’s all-time leading scorer expect that he will be with the organization for training camp once the season begins this fall.”
If James doesn’t retire next summer, 2025-26 could be his last season in a Lakers uniform.