LeBron James is said to choose a 23rd season, will earn $ 52.6 million in 2025-26

LeBron James performs his $ 52.6 million option with the Los Angeles Lakers before 2025-26, which further confirms that he will be the first player in the NBA history who plays a 23rd season, said a person with knowledge of the decision on Sunday.

The person spoke with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither James nor the team publicly announced the decision.

ESPN and the athletics belonged to them to first report the decision.

James, who recently returned to on-Court training after a few weeks to recover after a knee ligament in the last match of Lakers of the play-offs of the past season, the AP told earlier this month that he expected to be ready for training camp. That was a clear sign that he was planning to return for a 23rd year, one in which he will break a draw with Vince Carter for the 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 to make sure that I am almost 100% as possible when the training camp starts at the end of September,” James said in that interview.

If there was some doubt about James, the oldest current player of the NBA, who is coming back at least another season, it has now disappeared. He had until Sunday afternoon to make his decision about the option, one that pushes his career on the field to around $ 580 million.

This coming season will be his first full year with Luka Doncic as a teammate. Doncic was traded on the Lakers from Dallas in February, but the team – which entered the late season as the number 3 seed in a charged Western Conference – still fell to Minnesota in round 1.

James will be 41 in December. He has been an All-NBA-Pick in 21 of his 22 seasons in the competition, including a second round nod this last season. No other player has more than 15 all-NBA selections.

He on average 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists this last season. The all-time scoring leader of the NBA appeared in 1,562 games in the regular season, 49 behind the Mark of 1,611 of Robert Parish-De Most in the competition history. If he is healthy, James would of course come to break that brand this season.