According to ESPN famous reporter Shams, James's agent and Klutch Sports CEO Ritchie Paul revealed to ESPN that Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James will choose to execute the 2025-26 season of $52.6 million player option.

I believe everyone saw the news last night when they woke up this morning. It is particularly important to note that James did not renew the 1+1 contract as per his convention, but directly implemented the player option, which means that the new season may be James' "last dance".

When James first returned to the Cavaliers in the summer of 2014, he signed a 1+1 player option contract of $42.1 million for two years. The purpose of this is also direct: maintain flexibility, force the team to strengthen, and jump out of the contract the next year and leave.

In 2015, James jumped out of the player option and signed a 2-year, $47 million 1+1 player option contract with the Cavaliers.

After the Cavaliers won the championship in 2016, they signed a "reward-oriented long contract". James and the Cavaliers signed a three-year, $100 million 2+1 player option contract until they jumped out in 2018. The background was that the Cavaliers were beaten by the Warriors who had Durant for two consecutive years in the 2017 and 2018 Finals.

In the summer of 2018, James joined the Lakers as a free agent to open the land. The contract was $153 million in four years (the last year player option). In 2020, after the Lakers won the championship, James renewed a 2-year, $85 million 1+1 player option contract, another 2-year, $97.1 million 1+1 player option contract in 2022, and another 2-year, $104 million 1+1 player option contract in 2024.

When Zhan signed the 1+1 contract for the first time (2014) was at his peak of 29 years and 7 months, and his last signing of the 1+1 contract (2024) was 39 years and 7 months. He is currently 40 years old and 182 days old. The new season will be the first person in the NBA's history for 23 seasons. According to common sense, he should continue to use a 1+1 contract to ensure his future interests. The direct execution player basically implies that retirement is approaching, and the Xia is in a state of being able to play or not.

It must be admitted that James has truly allowed "workers" to dominate his destiny through a 1+1 contract. He has set a new industry benchmark and principle for more NBA superstars to gain the initiative and star voice.

James has been fighting for 23 seasons, and he no longer needs to prove anything.

There are only 11 people who can compete in 20 seasons or more in NBA history: Haslem, Jamal Crawford, Kobe, Jabbar, James, Willis, Nowitzki, Garnett, Parrish, Carter, and Paul.

If the threshold is raised to 21 seasons, there are only six players in history, including James, Garnett, Nowitzki, Willis, Parrish and Carter. Only Carter and James remained for 22 seasons. LeBron James is the first to play in history for 23 seasons.

Being able to stay evergreen in the luxury NBA, physical talent is one aspect, and ultimate self-discipline has truly brought James to this day.

We all know James' unparalleled style of playing in the early and mid-term of his career. He ranks first in history among active small forwards and 4th in history in the NBA's total dunk list. He ranks the highest as a non-center player.

Even in the 2023-24 season, he still dunked 84 times in his 21st season, exceeding the total number of dunks (27 times) of all other players in NBA history in 21 seasons.

"With his playing style, he will basically retire due to injury at the age of 30." I believe everyone has seen this early evaluation of James' career. His historical ceiling-level physical fitness has subverted everyone's perception.

James is the most fond of fans. His career has almost no major injuries that have caused season reimbursement. "Durability" is truly unique in history.

Every offseason, we always see James "showing his friends" on vacation training. Many people think he is doing a show, but today, he suddenly realizes it. Spending millions of dollars every year to maintain the body and ultimate self-discipline, everything we have done behind this really makes us understand the value of "one minute on stage and ten years of hard work off stage".

The first person in history in 23 seasons, the longest river, time finally washed away all doubts and misunderstandings, and LeBron James' 23-year eternal youth interprets the greatness of his long career.

The new season will be the 8th year of the Lakers' career. It celebrates its 41st birthday at the end of December this year, and ending the Lakers' life is just one of the plans.

James' business territory is in Los Angeles, which is one of the main reasons why he will not leave the Lakers easily.

Only by executing the player option can you be traded to join the championship team. If the player option is not implemented, James can only join a weak team with salary space as a free agent. With James' current state, it will not be a problem to continue to compete for 1-3 seasons.

The basic plan of the Lakers is clear at a glance: Doncic, the cornerstone of the team, has successfully lost weight this summer at 26 years and 4 months; Reeves, who is 27 years old, has 1+1 left in the four-year and 56 million contract (player option), and he is still the third most cost-effective leader in the league; James, who is over 40 years old, has the biggest enemy of physical fitness, and can still play the skills of the peak version in some games; players such as Hachimura, Van Debiao, and electric fans, the forward group is still the main body of the Lakers' existing lineup.

The Lakers lost to the Timberwolves 1-4 in the first round of the playoffs, and it is imperative to strengthen the inside. Hayes is the only insider and is also a fake starter. The Lakers use five small lineups most of the time and are eventually crushed by the Timberwolves. I believe everyone has never forgotten Gobert's explosive performance of 27 points and 24 rebounds in the last game against the Lakers..

The Lakers' playing style and ideas for the new season are also clear. Doncic needs a good pick-and-roll inside line. James can still play his strength in some periods of hard-solving scoring explosiveness and real-time decision-making ability advantages. In the general direction, Doncic + Xiaoli is still the game ideas for the main and James is the auxiliary.

The Lakers' performance of 50 wins and 32 losses in the regular season last season was remarkable. When they encountered the large-scale Timberwolves' shortcomings, they were indeed defeated and lost their temper when they encountered the shortcomings of the inside. If the Lakers want to make a breakthrough in the new season, they must trade to strengthen the inside line. The electric fan has a 15.37 million player option next season, and four contracts of Hachimura, Van Debiao, Kleber and Vincent can all try to operate.

Building a team around Doncic, the worst plan is that James will retire the fastest, which is a path that the Lakers must continue with tears.

LeBron James's 23 seasons have left all the banquet, so let's watch and cherish it!