The NBA’s 2025-26 regular season ended after 82 games, and the playoffs are now moving into view with one question hanging over Los Angeles: is this LeBron James’s last run with the Lakers? The play-in got underway on Tuesday, and the 2026 postseason is about to take center stage.
That question matters because James, 40, is still at the center of one of the league’s biggest storylines, and the next round could bring one more meeting with Kevin Durant. The basketball gods have handed fans a possible fourth postseason clash between the aging legends, who first dueled in the 2012 Finals and have spent more than a decade defining each other’s eras.
For the Lakers, the answer to James’s future could shape everything that follows. That is why his presence remains so closely watched, from broad season analysis to detailed looks at his place in the franchise, including one on why he still looms over the Lakers’ season and another on how early he was ready, as Tim Hardaway has recalled. Even the injury side of the picture has been part of the conversation, with a recent note on James being out Tuesday as worries grew.
The rest of the bracket is carrying its own weight. The Hawks are in the playoffs for the first time since 2023, the Raptors are back for the first time since 2022, and the Trail Blazers returned after winning Tuesday night, reaching the postseason for the first time since 2021. The Hornets could also be back for the first time since 2016, a reminder that the regular season’s 82 games are only the setup for what usually matters most.
That is the tension of this stretch: some teams are trying to turn brief returns into something bigger, while James and Durant may be approaching the end of a rivalry that began in the 2012 Finals. If this is the last Lakers chapter for James, the next few weeks will decide whether it ends as a final run, or as the start of one more debate about what comes next.