James has a $52.6 million player option for the upcoming season that will indicate what his next plans are for his career. According to former NBA player Al Harrington, he believes James will come back for one more season and then retire, though he believes the Akron native "could play five more years if he wanted to" ( YouTube link ).

LeBron James controls his fate here. The King can pretty much decides what he wants to do with his NBA future, and the Los Angeles Lakers will likely go along with it. That's part of what makes James' upcoming contract implications so intriguing.

Regardless of when James decides to retire, he'll go down as one of the "GOAT's" in NBA history. The debate of James vs. Michael Jordan isn't the focus right now, but it's one that will continue for many years to come.