With LeBron James coming into the ultimate 12 months of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, uncertainty round his long-term future as knowledgeable basketball participant might be a pertinent storyline till he decides. The Lakers, respecting his standing as an all-time nice, are content material to let James chart his personal path ahead with Luka Dončić additionally within the fold as one of many faces of the franchise.

This season is James’ twenty third within the NBA. The four-time MVP, now 40, is the oldest lively participant within the league. Retirement is sure to return sooner reasonably than later, however James has not been clear about when he’ll step away or which group might be his final.

“The very first thing we wish to do when it comes to LeBron and his future is simply give him absolute respect to decide on his story along with his household when it comes to what number of years he’ll proceed to play,” Lakers common supervisor Rob Pelinka mentioned on Thursday. “He is earned that proper, and he is the perfect one to speak about that.”

In July, James picked up his $52.6 million participant possibility to stay with the Lakers for an eighth season. His agent, Wealthy Paul, mentioned the Lakers star didn’t ask the group for a contract past the upcoming season and confirmed that a number of groups reached out with curiosity in buying and selling for him. If he concludes his profession elsewhere, it isn’t instantly clear the place that could be.

May he return to Cleveland or Miami? Would he be part of the Clippers to keep away from leaving Los Angeles? Would possibly one other large-market group come into play? All the pieces stays conjecture.

“We’d love if LeBron’s story can be to retire as a Laker,” mentioned Pelinka. “That may be a optimistic story.”

James hardly slowed down final season along with his 24.4 factors, 8.2 assists and seven.2 rebounds per sport. He even logged a career-best free throw proportion. He’s not the identical scorer he was in his early years with the Lakers nor in his peak seasons as a professional, however the future first-ballot Corridor of Famer seemingly has sufficient within the tank to be an All-Star for so long as he needs to play.

The Lakers have a succession plan in place as soon as James leaves both for retirement or for an additional group. Dončić would be the face of the franchise in his absence, and his superstardom provides the Lakers the potential to contend for titles on a perennial foundation.

“We have been very intentional this summer time when it comes to the items we added with Luka and LeBron as soon as LeBron opted in, ensuring that they’d the required items round them to be on a very aggressive, sturdy group,” mentioned Pelinka. “We constructed into that and for that.”