LeBron James on how important the process of basketball is to him

This offseason could be a monumental one for the Los Angeles Lakers, and it will all start with what LeBron James decides to do as far as his basketball career is concerned. Once he officially becomes a free agent several weeks from now, he could either retire, re-sign with the Lakers or move to another team.

Most expect him to stay in the NBA for at least one more year, so the real question could be which uniform he will wear come October. According to a report in The Athletic, he and the Lakers are interested in continuing their partnership, a partnership that has lasted for eight years so far and has been frustrating, yet has yielded an NBA championship.

James told the media after the team's 115-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday that one thing that will determine how much longer he continues to play in the league is how long he continues to love the process of playing.

"I think for me it's about the process," James said. "If I can commit to still being in love with the process of showing up to the arena five and a half hours before a game to start preparing for a game, giving everything I got, diving for loose balls and doing everything that you know that it takes to go out and play.

"Showing up to practices, 11 o'clock practice, I'm there at 8 o'clock preparing my body, preparing my mind, preparing to practice, to put the work in. So I think for me, I've always been in love with the process … so I think that would be a big factor."

By now, wondering about James' immediate basketball future after the Lakers are eliminated from the playoffs seems like an annual ritual. Last summer, he decided to exercise the player option on his contract rather than opt out and request an extension, which led to immediate speculation that the 2025-26 season would be his last one with the Purple and Gold.