The Los Angeles Lakers will miss LeBron James to start the regular season as he deals with sciatica. The timeline reported was that he will be evaluated in three to four weeks, and it's still not certain if he will return in that timeframe. With James entering his 23rd season, and injuries slowly continuing to pop up, Kendrick Perkins believes that after this season, the Lakers' star should call it a career.
“We talk about Father Time all the time, and Father Time is here,” Perkins said on NBA Today. “We've heard LeBron talk about when the time is near, he's going to sit down with his family. He’s even gonna talk to the word love to see if it’s still there, but his body is saying, ‘Listen to me.' This is three straight years in a row that LeBron James has dealt with injuries that have kept them sidelined. His body is telling him, ‘I’ve been good to you; it’s time for you to be good to me. It’s time to shut it down.'
"At the end of this season, I feel like this should be LeBron's last season, and he should really retire after this season. It's nothing more for him to accomplish. He accomplished everything."@KendrickPerkins shares his thoughts on LeBron following his nerve irritation ✍️ pic.twitter.com/4U4zZBfNni
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 10, 2025
“Not right now, but at the end of this season, I feel like this should be LeBron's last season, and he should really retire after this season. It's nothing more for him to accomplish. He accomplished everything. He’s probably the all-time leader in every single thing. He’s in the goat conversation. He’s 41 years of age, and his body right now is telling him, ‘Hey brother, be good to me. I need it.'”
Everyone knows that the time is near for James to hang it up, but there's no doubt that he will do it on his terms and when he feels like he's given the game his all. At this point, it doesn't look like he's fully done yet.
LeBron James knows the end is near for NBA career
It's not like James doesn't know that his time is coming up to retire, and he acknowledged it during Media Day.
“I'm excited about the opportunity to play the game that I love for another season,” James said. “And however the journey lays out this year, I'm just super invested. Because, like you said, I don't know when the end is, but I know it's a lot sooner than later.”
James has accomplished almost everything in his career, and if he can't give the game everything he wants, he may hang it up soon.
