{"id":39710,"date":"2026-01-28T17:03:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T22:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/lebron-james-retirement-chances-could-the-king-hang-up-his-crown-before-the-upcoming-nba-season\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T17:03:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T22:03:52","slug":"lebron-james-retirement-chances-could-the-king-hang-up-his-crown-before-the-upcoming-nba-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/lebron-james-retirement-chances-could-the-king-hang-up-his-crown-before-the-upcoming-nba-season\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James Retirement Chances: Could the King Hang Up His Crown Before the Upcoming NBA Season?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Entering his 23rd NBA season, LeBron James continues to perform at an elite level. While he may not possess the same speed he once did, he remains a strong competitor, likely operating as an All-Star-caliber player, potentially coming off the bench.<\/p>\n<p>The Los Angeles Lakers currently have a 28-17 record straight up (SU) and 25-20 against the spread (ATS), with James contributing an average of 22.4 points and six rebounds per game, ranking third in both categories on his team.<\/p>\n<p>Speculation about LeBron\u2019s retirement has been ongoing for several years, but it&#8217;s still unclear when he might officially step away from professional basketball. However, sportsbooks are already offering odds on when he might announce his retirement.<\/p>\n<p>As of January 28th at FanDuel Sportsbook, the odds for James to retire by the 2026-27 season stand at +144 for &#8220;Yes&#8221; (bet $10 to win $24.40) and -178 for &#8220;No&#8221; (bet $10 to win $15.62).<\/p>\n<p>In October, LeBron hinted that he was facing &#8220;the decision of all decisions,&#8221; sparking retirement rumors that culminated in a playful commercial for Hennessy cognac. Whenever he retires, LeBron will leave behind one of the most remarkable legacies in basketball history.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout his illustrious career with the Cavaliers, Heat, and Lakers, James earned a championship with each team, was named Rookie of the Year in 2003, and has four regular-season MVPs along with four Finals MVPs to his name. Over 23 seasons, he has averaged 26.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Fan Take:<\/strong> LeBron\u2019s potential retirement marks the end of an era that has defined basketball for over two decades. His departure could signal a major shift in the league&#8217;s landscape, opening the door for new stars to rise and redefine the future of the sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Entering his 23rd NBA season, LeBron James continues to perform at an elite level. While he may not possess the same speed he once did, he remains a strong competitor, likely operating as an All-Star-caliber player, potentially coming off the bench. The Los Angeles Lakers currently have a 28-17 record straight up (SU) and 25-20 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[39],"class_list":{"0":"post-39710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}