LeBron James will opt into his $52.6 million player option with the Lakers for the 2025-26 season, bypassing the opportunity to become a free agent this week.

James, the league’s all-time leading scorer who turns 41 in December and will enter an unprecedented 23rd NBA season — breaking a tie with Vince Carter for most NBA seasons played — had until 2 p.m. on Sunday to decide on the option in his contract as part of the two-year, $101.4 million contract he signed with the Lakers last summer.

The decision, which was first reported by ESPN, came after James averaged 24.4 points while shooting 51.3% from the field (37.6% from 3-point range), 8.2 assists, 7.8 rebounds and a steal in 70 regular-season games.

He was named to a record-extending 21st All-NBA team, continuing to raise the bar for players in the latter stages of their career.

James has publicly expressed doubt about how much longer he’ll play over the last couple of years when asked about potentially retiring.

With 1,562 regular-season games played, James is 50 games away from breaking Hall of Famer Robert Parish’s record for the regular-season games (1,611) in league history.

“I don’t know, I don’t have an answer to that,” James responded after the Lakers’ season ended with the first-round playoff exit to the Minnesota Timberwolves when asked how many more seasons he’ll play. “Something (I’ll) sit down with my family, my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it and see what happens. And just have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play.”

Comments made to ESPN on Sunday by James’ agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, made it less clear how much of his future with be with the Lakers.

“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Paul told ESPN. “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 (Lakers owner and governor) Jeanie (Buss) and (general manager) Rob (Pelinka) 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.”

James has a no-trade clause in his contract.

His oldest son, Bronny, was drafted by the Lakers in the second round of the 2024 NBA draft.

They became the NBA’s first father-son duo in league history last season.

The elder James recently returned to on-court activities after suffering a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee during the Lakers’ first-round playoff loss to the Timberwolves.

Dorian Finney-Smith declined his $15.4 million player option for 2025-26 as part of the four-year, $55.6 million contract extension he signed with Dallas in February 2022 before being traded to Brooklyn the following year.

Finney-Smith, who will officially become an unrestricted free agent today, has been eligible for a contract extension since mid-February. Finney-Smith returning to the Lakers is possible. He appears to be seeking a multi-year deal. Finney-Smith is eligible until today to sign a four-year, $90.2 million maximum contract extension with the Lakers, according to ESPN.

Teams may start negotiating with all free agents at 3 p.m. today. Teams have been able to negotiate with upcoming free agents who finished the season on their roster the day after the NBA Finals ended.

The Lakers were 18-13 before trading for Finney-Smith and they went 29-14 in the 43 regular-season games in which he played. Even though his season-long averages for the Lakers don’t stand out (7.9 points — 44.2% shooting; 39.8% from 3, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 28.8 minutes), the impact of his versatility big.

With James’ opt-in, Finney-Smith’s opt-out and Jordan Goodwin’s $2.3 million team option being picked up, the Lakers have 10 players signed to guaranteed deals for 2025-26, combining for around $173.2 million in salary.

They will have access to the $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception entering free agency if Finney-Smith doesn’t extend his contract or re-sign with the franchise.

The Lakers could use the mid-level exception to sign a free agent seeking a significant salary, split the exception up to sign multiple free agents or take on more salary in a trade and absorb the extra money into whatever they have left of the exception if they don’t use all of it beforehand.

They’d be hard-capped at the first apron threshold ($195.9 million) for 2025-26 if they use more than $5.7 million of the $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception.