At every season finale in the NBA, a question runs through the league. How much time does LeBron James have left? This week it was the 38-year-old star who toyed with the possibility of leaving the pitch after 20 seasons. “Let’s see what happens next. I don’t know it. “To be honest, I have to think a lot about what it means to me to continue playing basketball,” the Lakers player admitted after the Denver Nuggets comfortably defeated his team 4-0 in the Western Conference NBA Finals.
James’ words have sparked a wave of rumours. It’s not the first time the star has put retirement to the test. The ESPN chain asked him to clarify his words after a press conference in which he was open to reflecting on the future. “What do you mean when you say you want to think about things?” asked a sports network reporter. “If I want to continue playing… I have to think about it,” replied the striker.
Many in the Lakers dressing room believe it’s something that doesn’t have a solid foundation. James himself stated that his level of play is still above “90 or 95%” of NBA players. An example of this was the last home game against Denver. Despite being eliminated, James sat on the bench for just four seconds of the entire game. He scored 40 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had nine assists in his best performance in the last 10 games.
“It would be pretty crazy for him to retire from the sport, especially when I think he has more in the tank,” said teammate D’Angelo Russell. “I don’t see that… by those numbers it’s clear he’s got a lot in him for a few more years,” added Dennis Schröder, German point guard for the Los Angeles team.
At the end of the season, the leadership of the Los Angeles organization said that they would discuss the issue with LeBron in the coming days. “He gave basketball more than a lot of people, and when you do that you have the right to decide if you give more,” said Rob Pelinka, the team’s manager. Lakers coach Darvin Ham, who completed his freshman year as head coach, said the team’s mainstay should do that “to make him feel most comfortable.”
James became the all-time leading scorer in the NBA regular season that season, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. After winning four championships, he admitted this week that he keeps playing just to win more rings. The Lakers are continuing to give him that option for the time being as his contract has two years left. The franchise will pay him $46.9 million in the 2023–2024 season and has signed a $50.6 million renewal option for next season. If we leave now, that leaves almost $100 million on the table.
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When he retires, the athlete would also give up one of his few dreams he can achieve, which is to have a season in the NBA coincide with his son Bronny. The oldest son in the family signed with the University of Southern California team this year. It is expected to be available for the NBA draft in 2024.
Some analysts believe LeBron’s words were a coded message to the Lakers leadership with the intention of building him around them and building a team alongside Anthony Davis with whom he is capable of winning the fifth ring and being to further develop the legacy. The Lakers turned the ending season around thanks to a series of transfers that arrived at the end of the season. For many of the players who have led the franchise to the conference finals, the future is in the air. The continuity of Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Russell himself is in doubt, who performed worse than expected in the series against Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets. James wants certainty before beginning his 21st season in the NBA.
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