{"id":123159,"date":"2025-11-28T02:58:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T02:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=123159"},"modified":"2025-11-28T02:58:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T02:58:26","slug":"report-lebron-james-may-already-be-telegraphing-his-retirement-decision-to-lakers-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=123159","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: LeBron James may already be telegraphing his retirement decision to Lakers fans"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"relative z-10\">\n<div class=\"article-intro mb-4 text-darkGrey font-group-large md:font-group-normal lg:font-group-large !mb-2.5 md:mb-5\"><strong>How many games will he play in?<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"mb-0 md:mb-9 relative md:mx-10 md:mb-9\">\n<figure>\n<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_78,w_2875,h_1617\/c_fill,w_360,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FGettyImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01kaykd4pk6k8awfv4g0.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_78,w_2875,h_1617\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FGettyImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01kaykd4pk6k8awfv4g0.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_78,w_2875,h_1617\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FGettyImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01kaykd4pk6k8awfv4g0.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 719px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_78,w_2875,h_1617\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FGettyImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01kaykd4pk6k8awfv4g0.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_78,w_2875,h_1617\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FGettyImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01kaykd4pk6k8awfv4g0.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_78,w_2875,h_1617\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FGettyImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01kaykd4pk6k8awfv4g0.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 1079px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_78,w_2875,h_1617\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FGettyImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01kaykd4pk6k8awfv4g0.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_78,w_2875,h_1617\/c_fill,w_2160,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FGettyImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01kaykd4pk6k8awfv4g0.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_78,w_2875,h_1617\/c_fill,w_2160,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FGettyImages%2Fmmsport%2F20%2F01kaykd4pk6k8awfv4g0.jpg 3x\" media=\"(min-width: 1080px)\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"undefined w-full\" title=\"Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_78,w_2875,h_1617\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/20\/01kaykd4pk6k8awfv4g0.jpg\" alt=\"Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James\" width=\"2875\" height=\"1617\" data-uw-rm-alt-original=\"Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James\" data-uw-rm-alt=\"ALT\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-darkGrey font-group-tiny\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-darkGrey font-group-tiny\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James | Ronald Martinez\/GettyImages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\" class=\"flex flex-wrap justify-center lg:justify-normal\">\n<div class=\"flex lg:mr-4 lg:w-[calc(70%-3em)] max-w-full\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"viewablity-block\">\n<figure class=\"player-wrapper relative aspect-video mb-[18px] bg-grey rounded-md hidden player-wrapper-lg md:block\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"article-content [&amp;_p]:leading-[30px] [&amp;_p]:md:leading-[28px] [&amp;_li]:leading-[30px] [&amp;_li]:md:leading-[28px]\">\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">LeBron James is in year 23 in the NBA, his eighth with the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">As ESPN&#8217;s Dave McMenamin wrote on Tuesday, the 2025-26 season could mark the end of LeBron&#8217;s All-NBA streak, which currently sits at 21. He needs to hit the 65-game mark to be eligible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">On top of that, McMenamin wrote that according to sources close to LeBron, he&#8217;s still <strong>&#8220;undecided&#8221;<\/strong> about whether this will be his final season.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\"><em>Will there be a way to know that he is retiring before LeBron announces it himself?<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">Yes. As McMenamin highlighted, if LeBron makes every effort possible to be available for games, it could mean that he&#8217;s viewing this season as a retirement tour.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">Los Angeles wants LeBron, who missed the first 14 games of the season with sciatica, to be in the best shape possible before the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">The main goal is to win another championship with LeBron, and to do so, prioritizing rest will be key for the soon-to-be 41-year-old. However, not only will that end his All-NBA streak (he can miss only three more games), but it could also throw his retirement decision into question.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">LeBron James is still &#8216;undecided&#8217; about retirement<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">The Lakers are a top-three team in the West with a 13-4 record, and they\u00a0got there with LeBron sidelined\u00a0for all but three games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">Although it&#8217;s still early, they look like a team that can make a deep playoff run. One would assume that LeBron&#8217;s desire to win another title would surpass a retirement tour for this season. If he did treat this season as a retirement tour, he&#8217;d play in as many games as he could, which could jeopardize his health for the postseason.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">That doesn&#8217;t sound like something LeBron would do, but until it&#8217;s official, questions will continue to swirl.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">LeBron has never been the kind of player who misses games for rest, but it comes with the territory of his age. If, for whatever reason, he plays in games that fans would otherwise prefer him to rest, that could be a sign that he will hang his jersey up at the end of the season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">Again, that doesn&#8217;t sound like LeBron. It&#8217;s not like the Lakers are the Clippers or something, sitting at the bottom of the West.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">The reality is that LeBron&#8217;s time in the NBA will come to a close sooner rather than later, but if we&#8217;re being honest, this never felt like\u00a0<em>the<\/em> season where it&#8217;d all end.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">He is on an expiring contract as the Lakers didn&#8217;t discuss an extension with him during the offseason, meaning he is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">It seems more likely\u00a0that he&#8217;ll leave LA\u00a0than retire, but to be clear, Lakers fans don&#8217;t want to see either happen.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\">The takeaway is, as always, to enjoy watching LeBron play for as long as you can. Everyone knows, or should know, by now not to take it for granted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How many games will he play in? Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James | Ronald Martinez\/GettyImages &nbsp; LeBron James is in year 23 in the NBA, his eighth&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123160,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>REPORT: LeBron James may already be telegraphing his retirement decision to Lakers fans - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=123159\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"REPORT: LeBron James may already be telegraphing his retirement decision to Lakers fans - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How many games will he play in? 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