Comparing/Contrasting the Retirement Arcs of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant

James will become the first NBA player to log 23 seasons. Unlike when Vince Carter (22 years), Dirk Nowitzki (21), Kevin Garnett (21), Kevin Willis (21) and Robert Parish (21) accepted reduced roles in their final seasons, James has still produced at an All-Star level. Yes, James has labored through various injuries with the Lakers in 2018-19 (left groin), in 2020-21 (high right ankle sprain), in 2021-22  (abdominal strain) and in 2022-23 (right foot). Yet James has still performed at an elite level and appeared in at least 70 games in the past two seasons. It appears as if James has struggled to project when to retire partly because he has produced well enough to keep delaying his expiration date.

So far in the 2025-26 season, however, James hasn’t yielded any certainty about his longevity, play or even health. At the beginning of training camp, the Lakers revealed they would limit James because he nurses sciatica on his right side. James didn’t play in any preseason games or participate in any team practices and remained confined only to individual drills. James missed his team’s season opener for the first time in his career. And with James sitting for the Lakers’ first four regular-season games and counting, they don’t have clarity on when he can return to play or even practice without limitations.

Before his final NBA season, Bryant dealt with more concerns about his health after managing three season-ending injuries in consecutive years. After elevating his play and workload in the final month of the 2012-13 season to ensure the Lakers stayed in playoff contention, Bryant tore his left Achilles tendon in the third-to-last regular-season game. After returning eight months later, Bryant played in only six games in the 2013-14 campaign before fracturing his left knee and eventually missing the rest of the season. Bryant then played in 35 games in 2014-15 before tearing the rotator cuff in his right shoulder and sitting for the rest of that season, too.

Bryant entered his final season, however, with relatively fewer questions marks about his health than James has so far in the 2025-26 campaign. Bryant participated in training camp. He played in five of the Lakers’ eight preseason games. He appeared in the Lakers’ season opener and through the following five games. He then sat out three of the next five contests as part of the team’s plan to sit him on back-to-backs.

With Bryant initially undecided on when he would retire to enter his final season, short-lived speculation even arose that he may prolong his career should the Lakers’ young roster blossom enough to contend for an NBA title. Others wondered if Bryant would willingly play for another team for one last shot to collect another ring. New York Knicks president Phil Jackson, Bryant’s former longtime Lakers coach, even predicted before training camp, “I don’t think it’s his last year. It sounds like it may be his last year as a Laker.”

Just before the Lakers played in New York in their sixth regular-season game, Bryant addressed that monthlong storyline. Bryant mused, “That’s Phil baiting you guys like he always does, man; he’s a master at it.” A reporter prodded Bryant that he could definitively clarify his allegiance toward the franchise that secured his draft rights from Charlotte in 1996.

“I've said it so many times. I'm here, I'm a Laker for life,” Bryant said. “I'm not playing anywhere else, no matter what. It's just not going to happen. I bleed purple and gold, and that's just how it's going to be.”

It soon became clear that Bryant would continuously struggle with injuries and his performance should he try to play past 20 NBA seasons, even with the Lakers. In his first 12 games, Bryant averaged more field-goal attempts (a team-high 16.7) than points (15.7) while ranking last among qualified NBA players in field-goal percentage (career-worst 31.5%) and 3-point shooting (19%). So ahead of the Lakers’ game against the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 29, 2015, Bryant announced his retirement by publishing his poem “Dear Basketball” in The Players' Tribune.

“This season is all I have left to give,” Bryant wrote. “My heart can take the pounding. My mind can handle the grind. But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.”

Afterward, Bryant initially scoffed at receiving a farewell tour. He didn’t want to disrupt his competitive drive. He still wanted to thrive off hostile road environments. But Bryant eventually acquiesced.

In Bryant’s first road game after announcing his retirement, the Philadelphia 76ers greeted him with a Sixers legend (Julius Erving) and his high school coach (Gregg Downer) with a framed Lower Merion No. 33 jersey. The Golden State Warriors presented Bryant with a Napa Valley vacation and wine package. The Boston Celtics gave Bryant a plaque that included a piece of the Garden’s parquet floor. Nearly every team presented Bryant with a pregame tribute video featuring a key coach or player. The same fans who previously booed Bryant in opposing arenas suddenly greeted him with cheers before and after the game.

Bryant accepted this treatment partly because it became clear he had no chance to contend for a playoff berth, let alone an NBA title. The Lakers finished with their worst record in franchise history (17-65) as they struggled to manage Bryant’s decline while developing a young albeit proven roster. After most games, Bryant reflected at length on various notable points of his career and opponents partly to shape how he would stand in league history. Ironically, Bryant capped off his final game with a 60-point performance that sparked reminders of how the high-volume shooter could still captivate an audience and dominate an opponent as he did in his prime.

Those around the NBA expect James wants a farewell tour, too. That can ensure greater appreciation for his accomplishments (four NBA championships, No. 1 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list), how he brought the Cleveland Cavaliers their first NBA title (2016) and how he captivated a league with his athleticism and versatility with a team-first approach. How that will play out, however, seems more complicated than even Bryant’s circumstances.

Bryant crystalized his future more clearly while he rehabbed three season-ending injuries and eventually accepted that he couldn’t compete for another NBA title. James has delayed Father Time more effectively while still remaining in playoff contention during his seven years with the Lakers. Although a camera crew followed Bryant during almost every moment of his farewell tour, it mostly felt organic because he played with the Lakers for his entire career. Although James helped the Lakers win the 2020 NBA title, he lacks the same connection with Lakers fans. James won an NBA title with the Lakers in a campus bubble without fans during COVID-19 pandemic. James also spent most of his NBA career as a hated opponent with either Cleveland (2003-10, 2014-18) or Miami (2010-14).

Nonetheless, Lakers governor Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka have said they would love for James to retire as a Laker. When James turned 40 on Dec. 30, 2024, James expressed similar sentiments.

“I think that’s the plan. I would love for it to end here,” James said. “That would be the plan. I came here to play the last stage of my career and to finish it off here. But I’m also not silly or too jaded to know the business of the game as well, to know the business of basketball. But I think my relationship with this organization speaks for itself. And hopefully I don’t got to go nowhere before my career is over.”

This past summer, however, the business of basketball clouded that plan. The Lakers didn’t signal they would grant James an extension to play beyond the 2025-26 season. So when James exercised his $52.6 million player option, agent Rich Paul suggested to ESPN and The Athletic that James could consider other options if the Lakers can’t construct a championship-caliber roster around James and Dončić.

“LeBron wants to compete for a championship," Paul said. "He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we've had for eight years with Jeanie and Rob and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career. We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what's best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what's best for him.”

Since those comments, James maintained his uncertainty on when he will retire and affirmed a reporter’s question on whether he feels pleased with the Lakers’ moves that included signing a talented-albeit-mercurial center (Deandre Ayton) and two strong wing defenders (Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia). James only clarified whether Dončić’s arrival would influence his future.

“Zero,” James said at the Lakers’ media day. “The motivation to be able to play alongside him every night, that’s super motivating. That’s what I’ll train my body for. Every night that I go out there, try to be the best player that I can for him. We’re going to bounce that off one another. But as far as weighing him and some of my other teammates with how far I’ll go in my career, it would be literally my decision along with my wife.”

How that decision plays out seems as murky as when James will return.

James wrote a cryptic post on Oct. 6 with the hashtag, “#TheSecondDecision” that made some Lakers fans believe he would announce his retirement. A day later, James simply shared a promotional ad for Hennessy. Lakers coach JJ Redick playfully called anyone in the media who fell for James’ schtick “idiots.” But James’ next steps seem as anticipated as his original decision in 2010 when he announced in an hour-long special that he would leave Cleveland for Miami as a free agent.  

Although Redick said it was “the goal” for James to play in the season opener, James has stayed confined to an elevated chair on the bench. The Lakers plan to evaluate James at some point within the next week, which could give at least some insight on when he can advance in his rehab.

Then, James will continue to ponder issues that Bryant deliberated over 10 years ago. Then, James will likely experience a more complicated process than even what Bryant managed over how to end an accomplished career.