LeBron James Will Retire When He's ‘Out Of Love With The Process’

LeBron James isn’t letting his contract status, or thoughts of retirement, get in the way of his final chapter with the Los Angeles Lakers.

James is entering the last year of his deal, an expiring $52.6 million contract, but made it clear his focus remains on the season ahead.

“It will have no impact,” James told ESPN. “I’m super excited about the challenges and the excitement of our team. We added some new guys. We got another year under our belt with our coaching staff from last year. Got a full year with Luka [Doncic] and another year with the guys that I’ve been with. So super excited about that.

“And I’m not worried about contracts at this point in my career. That doesn’t bother me at all. Super humbled to even have it, have a contract still and be able to play the game that I love still at this part of my career and take full advantage of it.”

The 40-year-old said the biggest challenge is preparing his body for a full 82-game season after battling nagging injuries in recent years.

“That’s always the challenge: How can I get my body close to 100 percent? Obviously, coming off the MCL sprain last year, obviously, the foot has kind of given me a little problem from time to time throughout the course of the last few seasons. So, that’s always the challenge of seeing how I can get my body as close to 100 percent where I can go out and perform at a high level. So, I’m still ramping things back up. I’m not where I want to be. But I mean, I don’t want to be where I want to be right now in September. So, I got some time and I’m looking forward to the process of getting there.”

As for the end of the road, James admitted he’ll know when it’s time to walk away.

“For me, it’s just, am I still excited about the process? Do I still get motivated about the process every single year?” James told ESPN. “Preparing my body. Preparing my mind. Working on my body, training, things of that nature, to get ready for a full season.

“I think once I kind of fall out of love with the process, then I’ll know for sure. Then, it’d probably be the end for me.”