A new bombshell NBA report claims that living legend LeBron James has made a decision on retiring – the current 40-year-old will test the market at the end of this season. 

James is widely expected to opt into the final year of his contract for the upcoming season worth $52.6million. 

Then, James will become an unrestricted free agent again, for the first time since 2018, per ESPN. 

No looming decision is expected to draw the attention of the last three times the current Los Angeles Laker was up for grabs.

On all three of those instances, 2010, 2014, and 2018, James changed teams. What market there would be for a 41-year-old James is unclear, especially with his son, Bronny James, also on the Lakers. 

James could retire at the end of this upcoming season, with a severe pay cut expected should he want to continue playing. 

A new NBA report claims that living legend LeBron James has made a decision on retiring

James is expected to opt into the final year of his contract for the season worth $52.6million

Rarely has a player over 40 garnered the kind of money James would like, with Tom Brady being an exception. If someone could replicate that, James appears to be in good shape to do so.  

James is also the longest-tenured player in the NBA, with his career mirroring in large part that of hockey legend Alex Ovechkin, who is widely expected to depart the NHL when his Washington Capitals contract is up next year, in what will be the season following him breaking hockey’s all-time goal-scoring record. 

James has held a contract at the NBA’s maximum since 2014, with that figure likely coming to an end at the end of this season no matter what.

James may be trading out the hardwood for Hollywood after he retires from the NBA, as he has hinted at making the jump to acting. 

James has previously hosted ‘Saturday Night Live’ and was the star in the movie ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ – which flopped compared to its iconic predecessor. 

A full-time career in Hollywood would no doubt be lucrative for James, with interest from studios an unknown. 

‘If the scripts start to roll in and there’s an opportunity for me to do some acting and I have the time… I don’t mind looking at it and seeing if I can make it happen,’ James said to the Hollywood Reporter.