Dec. 4, 2025, 11:25 p.m. PT
LeBron James has now been back for six games this season after missing the preseason and the first 14 games of the regular season due to sciatica, and for the most part, he hasn’t looked like his usual self. He has averaged 14 points a game while shooting 41.3% from the field and 25.9% from 3-point range, and in the last two games, he has shot a combined 7-of-27 overall.
He only scored 10 points on Monday versus the Phoenix Suns, and on Thursday against the Toronto Raptors, his record streak of 1,297 games with at least 10 points ended. He only mustered eight points, but he did have the game-winning assist to Rui Hachimura, who hit a 3-pointer just before the final horn to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 123-120 victory.
James’ poor play has seemingly revived the speculation about whether this could be his swan song in the NBA, or at least with the Lakers. According to NBA insider Eric Pincus, people around the league believe this season will be the future Hall of Famer’s last one with the Purple and Gold.
“While general manager Rob Pelinka said before the season that he’d like James to retire with the Lakers, the buzz around the NBA is that this will be his final season in Los Angeles (whether he decides to continue playing or call it a career),” Pincus wrote.
Even if James starts to play at his usual level again, wants to remain with the Lakers past this season and the Lakers want to keep him, it would be difficult to keep him around. He’s in the final year of a contract that is paying him $52.6 million this season, and he would have to take a significant pay cut because of the realities of the NBA’s hard salary cap.
According to a recent report by Dave McMenamin of ESPN, people close to James insist that the superstar doesn’t know right now if this will be his final season.