LeBron James Focused on Present Amid Questions About Future

That decision won’t even involve James’ two sons. Bronny will play for the Lakers in his second season as possibly an end-of-the-rotation player after showing enough improvement with his defense, shooting and playmaking. Bryce enters his freshman year at the University of Arizona. LeBron publicly shared his hope to play with Bronny in the NBA shortly after starring at Sierra Canyon High and playing one season at USC. The Lakers then selected Bronny at No. 55 last year before featuring him mostly in the G League, and James already fulfilled his dream to play with Bronny both in the team’s season opener and occasional spot minutes afterward. It doesn’t sound as if Bryce will follow that same path.

“I’m not waiting on Bryce,” James said, laughing. “I don’t know what his timeline is. He’s his own young man now. He’s down in Tucson. We’ll see what happens this year or next year. But he has his own timeline. I got my timeline. And I don’t know if they quite match up.”

That’s because James enters the 2025-26 season with plenty of unanswered questions that he couldn’t address with full conviction during media day.

James has spent his seven seasons with the Lakers playing at an All-Star level and managing various ailments throughout the season. Who knows how that will turn out once James turns 41 midway through the 2025-26 campaign.

The Lakers expect to become a contender because of internal improvement. They have a better conditioned Dončić. They signed head coach JJ Redick to a contract extension, and they believe he will excel even more with more experience. They made various offseason moves to address their depleted center position (Deandre Ayton) and needed 3-and-D reinforcements (Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia). They believe James still can play at an All-Star level. Yet, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets are considered more formidable Western Conference contenders because of fewer concerns about their depth and health.

After sending mixed signals last summer on how he felt about the Lakers’ direction and if he wanted to be a part of it, however, James appeared happy to wear a purple and gold uniform.

Shortly after exercising his $52.6 million player option to stay with the Lakers this season, agent Rich Paul released a statement to ESPN and The Athletic that cited his client’s desire “to compete for a championship” and that they plan “to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career.” The statement sent mixed messages on James’ feelings about the franchise. At media day, however, James sounded definitive when a reporter clarified whether he feels pleased with the Lakers’ offseason roster construction.

“Yeah,” James said. “I’m excited about getting to work, and I’m excited about to see what we can do.”

Interestingly, James didn't share optimism or pessimism about the Lakers’ chances to win their 18th NBA championship. But he still embraced serving as team spokesman with genuine enthusiasm.

“I’m excited about the opportunity that I am able to play the game that I love for another season,” James said. “Whatever the journey or however the journey lays out this year, I’m super invested.”

James expressed optimism that he will improve his chemistry with Dončić with more time together and after watching the superstar guard compete at EuroBasket with his Slovenian national team. James raved about Ayton’s skill set (“very high”) and athleticism (“high”), Smart’s defense and LaRavia’s shooting and ballhandling. James revealed he primarily trained to not be the team’s primary ball handler anymore.

“We havea lot of guys that can handle the ball,” said James, mentioning Dončić, Austin Reaves, Smart, Gabe Vincent and Bronny. “So how can I still be effective on a team where I don’t have to handle the ball as much? I’ll handle the ball as well. I did a lot of everything, but I did shoot a lot more catch-and-shoot 3s because I just wanted to be ready.”

James said those words in a genuine tone without any trace of sarcasm, fatigue or passiveness that grizzled veterans can often express. He joked with some media members about their recent haircuts and offseason trips. James talked glowingly about spending the offseason working on his golf swing. James sounded nostalgic when he discussed how sports helped him overcome childhood poverty. James appeared excited with the challenge to delay Father Time again in a season that may or may not include a farewell tour.

“Just trying to go out there and be the best player I can be every night as far as my game and far as mentally and staying present,” James said. “Knowing the end is soon, I’m not taking for granted Tuesday night in a city that maybe I don’t want to be in that night. But I’ll seriously lock in because you don’t know how many times you get the opportunity to play the game or to be able to compete. So there are times you wake up and you feel like you just don’t have it. So those will be the days that I know that I can lock back in real fast.”

It helps that James will play for the Lakers with another generational star and his son. It also helps that he enjoys living in Los Angeles with his family.

“I’m around a lot of young guys,” James said. “I’m around a 10-year-old daughter (Zhuri) who is running around through the house all day every day and screaming. I have an 18-year-old son (Bryce) who is in Tucson and see him TikToking dancing with his mom and his sister. My 20-year old (Bronny) is right over there turning 21 in a week. How can I not feel young? My wife (Savannah) is beautiful. I look good. I look at my age like the wine that I drink. The older wine I drink, the better it is. I feel great.”

Time and circumstances will tell whether James feels the same way throughout the 2025-26 season.