NEW YORK — If four-time NBA MVP LeBron James knows where he will play during the 2026-27 season, he’s still not saying.
The league’s all-time scoring leader and current biggest free agent spoke publicly for the first time in weeks Thursday afternoon, indicating that a decision is close. Still, the 41-year-old forward stopped short short of revealing which team he’ll choose to play for this fall, despite at least one cry from someone in a jam-packed room shouting for James to “pick a team” for what will be his record-extending 24th in the league.
“I won’t hold you guys up too much longer,” James said.
The four-time NBA Finals MVP made a pair of planned appearances Thursday. First, he recorded an episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast alongside guest co-host Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers in New York on the opening day of Fanatics Fest. James then spoke at the Game Plan Summit presented by CNBC and Boardroom later in the afternoon.
At the summit, he told Boardroom co-founder Rich Kleiman in an on-stage conversation that making this decision has a slew of layers — many of which, it seems, are off the court.
“It’s not just about the team,” James said. “There’s so many other factors that I’m factoring in right now on what best fits me as a player, what best fits me as a person and what best fits my happiness, and also my family as well.”
At Fanatics Fest, an 11-year-old in the crowd asked James about free agency and his next team — “First of all, that was a hell of a question,” James said, “and some of the media people here probably should learn from the young fellow.” — and the youngster got perhaps the best answer of the session, with James indicating the upcoming season may not necessarily be his last as a player.
“It’s a big decision for not only myself, but for my family as well,” said James, a native of Akron, Ohio, who played the past eight years for the Los Angeles Lakers and led them to the 2019-20 NBA season’s championship — the franchise’s 17th, his fourth and what remains the most recent title for both.
Added James: “Just for the last part of my career and where I want to spend the last few years or the last year or the last two years of my NBA career … I’m going to try to fit into whatever team I’m going into, but also give them all the tools and give them all the knowledge that I’ve been able to grasp over the last 23 years. I know the game. I know the ins and outs of the game of basketball.”
James playfully chided Haliburton for asking him about his future.
“Didn’t we talk about this in the back?” James asked, and Haliburton said he would “leave it alone.”
Of course, they didn’t leave it alone.
James made reference to a slew of teams, including two he has played for in the past — his close-to-home Cleveland Cavaliers (which he led to an NBA title in 2012) and the Miami Heat (which he led to titles in 2009 and 2010) — and two he hasn’t — the Golden State Warriors and the Philadelphia 76ers — though he didn’t appear to give much in the way of hints. He did sip from a bottle of red wine that he opened and shared with Haliburton, calling it one of his podcast traditions.
And when fans shouted out suggestions for James’ next team — one even asked him to play for Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees — no clues were forthcoming.
“We’ll see,” he said.
In Miami, where the Heat introduced two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis Jr. as their newest forwards Thursday, team president Pat Riley acknowledged there have been talks about a reunion with James.
“Right now, I think we’re like everybody else,” Riley said. “We’re just waiting to see what he does, and then we’ll see what happens.”
Same goes for the league itself: Adam Silver spoke at the Game Plan Summit not long after James, and while the NBA commissioner said he has a bit of an “inkling” on which way the superstar is leaning, he has received no concrete word.
The league office, Silver said, would like to know for one specific reason.
“We have to finish up the (2026-27) schedule, and where LeBron plays will affect the schedule,” Silver said. “So I would like him to make his announcement already so we can finish the schedule. As you can imagine, the teams are calling us, the networks are calling us, and everybody wants to lock in the schedule. It will influence how we set the schedule, how we set opening week, Christmas Day, et cetera.
“I need him to make a decision. But the direct answer is I have no inside information.”
James, who went straight from Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School to the NBA as the No. 1 pick of the 2003 draft, is the league’s oldest active player. Speculation has been rampant for more than two months about his future, officially starting in May after the Lakers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs.
At that time, James said he didn’t know what he would be doing. And the only developments he has revealed since came June 30, when the 6-foot-9, 250-pounder said he would play in the 2026-27 campaign, but that he was leaving the Lakers after his longest consecutive run of seasons with a single team.
For more than two weeks, the NBA has been waiting to hear what comes next. James, as he did in a social media post at the time, lauded his time with the Lakers, who wished him well as he moves forward.
“I spent eight great years with the Los Angeles Lakers,” James said.
His resumé is beyond compare in pro basketball history. In addition to being a 22-time NBA All-Star, 21-time All-NBA selection and three-time NBA All-Star Game MVP, he was a member of the league’s 75th anniversary team.
He’s also coming off a season in which he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game. He has career averages of 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.
James started his career in Cleveland and spent seven seasons with the Cavaliers before heading to Miami for four seasons. He then returned to Cleveland for four more seasons, leaving in 2018 to head west and join Lakers.
Cleveland and Miami are believed to be on James’ radar again as he weighs this decision, as are several other teams, including Golden State, Philadelphia and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“I’m looking forward to what comes next,” James said, “as I wind down my journey.”