Ticket prices for upcoming Lakers/Jazz game surge after rumors of Lebron James retirement

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — After a social media post from Lebron James that had people speculating on his retirement, ticket prices for next April’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz have surged. Those prices have stayed high, even after those rumors were debunked.

Basketball legend Lebron James posted a video on his Instagram account on October 6, teasing a “Second decision” to come on October 7. The caption of the post read, “The decision of all decisions.”

This post sparked speculations on social media that James might be retiring, as reported by ESPN. In the middle of that speculation, ticket prices for the final Lakers game of the season spiked. For that final game, the Utah Jazz will play the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on April 12, 2026.

Before James’ post, the cheapest tickets were available for $82, and after the post, single ticket prices spiked to $580, according to ESPN.

In the end, James was teasing a promotional partnership with Hennessey, not announcing anything related to retirement or his career, but interestingly, ticket prices for that game have stayed abnormally high in the day since.

If you check tickets for the game on Seat Geek, the lowest ticket price for a single ticket, as of October 8 at 8 p.m., is $355.

At the Los Angeles Lakers 2025 Media Day in September, James indicated that he is not thinking about retirement, even as he enters his 23rd season with the NBA, a record number of seasons.