Suddenly, the Los Angeles Lakers went from being considered serious contenders for the 2025 NBA title to only playing five games in the first round of the playoffs. However, not all was bad news for LeBron James.

The King of the NBA didn’t perform his best in the series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and despite averaging 25.4 points per game, he only scored five points in the final quarter of games 4 and 5.

There is an explanation for the performance in the game that sealed the Los Angeles Lakers’ elimination in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. With 8 minutes and 40 seconds left in the final quarter, Donte DiVincenzo set a screen for LeBron and ended up hitting his left knee.

“LeBron James suffered a Grade 2 medial collateral ligament sprain in his left knee during the final quarter of Game 5, a league source told ESPN,” reported journalist Dave McMenamin before ‘The King’ spoke about it.

LeBron and the benefit he gained from the Lakers’ elimination

LeBron James and Donte DiVincenzo. (Photo: Getty Images)

Since that Game 5 that eliminated them from the 2025 Playoffs, LeBron James had not spoken about the injury, but the time came for him to break his silence with a confession.

“I knew right as soon as the impact between DiVincenzo and I happened, my knee locked up. That’s why I stayed on the floor for a good minute to see if the knee would loosen up a bit, but I knew at that moment with the pain I had never felt before… My knee buckled inward and that’s the medial collateral ligament injury I suffered. The doctor told me it would take between four and six weeks. Now I have four to six weeks. That’s the benefit I get from the postseason. Obviously, I wish I was still (in the Playoffs), but you know. Even if we had won Game 5, I would have missed Game 6 and Game 7, and maybe more. Now, I have some time to do it right and regain all my strength,” James said on the YouTube channel ‘Mind The Game’.

The four options LeBron James has for his future with the Lakers and the NBA

LeBron can exercise a player option worth more than $52.6 million to continue with the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2025-26 NBA season. His second option is not to exercise this and negotiate a smaller, longer-term contract with the California team, but he could also become a free agent and change teams. Any other scenario? Yes, retirement…