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LeBron James surprised no one today after picking up his 2025-2026 season “Player Option” as part of his 2-year, $101,355,998 contract (guaranteed) with the Los Angeles Lakers. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer will now officially compete for a championship alongside Luka Doncic next season, according to his agent, Rich Paul.
“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 Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.”
The 40-year-old Point Forward will enter the 2025-2026 season with the chance to break Robert Parish’s record for the most career regular-season games played (1,611). James is just 50 games away, but has already broken the record for regular-season minutes played (57,447). It seems he has at least another season or two left in the tank as he chases down that “ghost in Chicago,” Michael Jordan. Still, with records including all-time points (42,184), playoff points (8,162), longest double-digit scoring streak (1,151), 3 championships, and the only member of the 30K/10K/10K club, his career will go down as one of the greatest of all time.
Let’s do some pocket watching because, by the numbers, LeBron’s contract is scarcely believable. Here, we’re only looking at the all-stars’ guaranteed NBA contract, but this number will increase substantially if we include the money accumulated from endorsement deals, interest, and investments.
Here’s a breakdown of LeBron James’ $52.6 million 2025-2026 season “Player Option” contract:
- Per year – $52,600,000
- Per month – $4,383,333.33
- Per week – $1,011,538.46
- Per day – $144,109.59
- Per hour – $6,004.57
- Per minute – $100.08
- Per second – $1.67
This contract makes LeBron the highest-paid player on the Lakers, ahead of Luka Doncic ($45,999,660), Rui Hachimura ($18,259,259), and Austin Reaves ($13,937,574). Interestingly, the Lakers only have 12 players signed for the 2025-2026 season, and new pick-up Dorian Finney-Smith is expected to sign a long-term deal in the coming days.
The team payroll currently stands at $191,588,670, but three more players must be signed before the season begins on October 21, 2025.
Now, LeBron and his agent, Rich Paul, have their sights set on doing whatever it takes to win another NBA Championship. “We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future,” Paul told ESPN. “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.”
