LeBron James has informed the Los Angeles Lakers that he will continue his NBA career next season but has ruled out signing with the team and will play elsewhere. James has been strongly linked with joining the Golden State Warriors. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat are also expected to pursue James with several other teams also likely to express interest.

James first joined the Lakers in 2018 and led the franchise to the NBA championship in 2020. The most successful subsequent season the Lakers had with James was in 2023 when they reached the Western Conference Finals.

The Lakers clearly pivoted towards Luka Doncic following their acquisition of him from the Dallas Mavericks in 2025. After the Lakers decided not to offer James a new contract in 2025, a split between the sides appeared to be an inevitability. But James eventually settled in as the third option on the Lakers behind Doncic and Austin Reaves with a new deal considered a strong possibility. James also led the Lakers to a first round series win over the Houston Rockets with Doncic out and Reaves only returning for the final games. 

James finished the regular season with 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 33.2 minutes across 60 games. James had a PER of 20.5, which was his lowest mark since his rookie season in 2003-04 when he had an 18.3 mark.

The Lakers and James never met this offseason and an offer was never extended.

"It was time to move on,” a source close to James told ESPN's Dave McMenamin. 

The Warriors can offer James their non-taxpayer midlevel exception of $15.1 million if Draymond Green takes a pay cut from his $27.7 million player option he declined and they also trade Moses Moody into another team's cap space.