LeBron James’s return to the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2025–26 season is no surprise. The way he has gone about it, however, and the franchise’s muted reaction to the news is incredibly unusual, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
Rather than sign a new deal with the Lakers, James has opted into his player options for 2025–26, which will pay him $52.6 million and will have him hit unrestricted free agency next summer.
The signing strikes Windohorst for two reasons: 1) Los Angeles did not put out an immediate statement about the star forward opting in, and 2) it is the first time in James’s two-decade career that he has exercised a player option.
“They haven’t put out a statement. It’s not a rule that you put out a statement when a player picks up an option, but it is customary, and the Lakers did not do that,” Windhorst said on Monday’s Get Up.
“This is the first time in 23 years, he’s ever been on a contract that’s in its last year.” @WindhorstESPN says there is "something unusual" about LeBron exercising his player option with the Lakers next season 🤔 pic.twitter.com/PmAsnnv0eW
“I had to actually check with the team and the league. I said, ‘Did LeBron actually opt in?’ And they said, ‘Yes, the paperwork went through. He opted into his contract.
“Last year, when LeBron signed a contract extension, Rob Pelinka had about a 115-word quote talking about how wonderful LeBron James is and what he means to the Lakers and what he means to their franchise. Yesterday, there was no statement.”
“I talked to Rich Paul, Luka Doncic was informed that this was going to be LeBron’s decision,” Windhorst said. “… This didn’t catch them by surprise, but you know who he did catch by surprise? The rest of the league. As I considered what teams LeBron would ever want to play for, I thought, ‘Well maybe there’s something afoot here.’ So I went team by team, and the teams didn’t know this was coming.”
