An NBA without The King would be weird.
It appears the Denver Nuggets, led by Western Conference Finals MVP Nikola Jokic, did not just sweep the Los Angeles Lakers out of the playoffs. They might have also sent LeBron James into retirement.
While it is far from official, The King hinted at the possibility of riding off into the proverbial sunset, first alluding to it in the post-game presser immediately after the Lakers’ 113-111 loss to the Nuggets on Tuesday.
“We’ll see what happens. I don’t know. I got a lot to think about to be honest. Just personally, with me moving forward with the game of basketball, I got a lot to think about,” said James, who also emphasized that he is all about competing for championships at this point in his career.
Citing several sources, NBA beat writer Chris Haynes later confirmed to Bleacher Report that James is, indeed, pondering retirement and will be weighing a lot of things in this coming offseason.
Health and injuries are likely to weigh heavily in James’ decision-making process over the next few months, as his tenure with the Lakers have been marked by some major injuries, including a strained left groin in the 2018–2019 season. This season, James mostly dealt with a hurting right foot, which he aggravated in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.
In addition, the four-time NBA champion will likely revisit his desire to play in the NBA with his two sons, Bronny and Bryce, especially with the latter potentially draft-eligible as early as the 2024–2025 season—the last year of the two-year, $97.1 extension The King signed back in 2022.
Curiously, James intimated back in February that he is physically capable of playing well into his 40s.
“I know I can play a couple of more years. The way I’m feeling, the way my body’s been reacting to me throughout this course of the season,” James said in the Lakers’ pre-All-Star break loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Three months and a stinging postseason loss later, the NBA’s all-time leading scoring is singing a different tune. But only time will tell if James will, indeed, call it a career.
(GM)