LeBron James gave a huge shock after getting eliminated by the Denver Nuggets when he hinted about getting retired. Although he many times told the media that his plan is to stick around until his son, Bronny, appears in the NBA. Bronny James will be picked perhaps next year from the draft. Hence, the idea was a father-son duo playing for the same team. James won’t even mind if he had to play against him on the same court. But plans suddenly changed, even so drastically.
After the 0-4 loss, the Los Angeles Lakers could not expect a more embarrassing ending to their season. Clearly, LeBron James seemed very sad and gave a couple of cryptic messages about retiring soon. Apparently, fans and everybody thought this sudden decision was due to the embarrassing end of the season. However, recently, his teammate, Anthony Davis, mentioned James was thinking about it for a while, even before the loss in the Western Conference Finals.
Anthony Davis Knew LeBron James Is Thinking About Retiring Even Before WCF
Dave McMenamin of ESPN explained what Anthony Davis told him about a conversation he had with LeBron James a while ago. In that conversation, AD asked James if he would make the Team USA appearance. To that, he immediately replied that he would “be done by then.” At the time, Davis thought James was talking about the 2028 Los Angeles USA basketball. Hence he replied, “I’m talking about the next summer.” But the question is if LeBron is even planning to stay for the next year or not. James can apparently wait for the next year’s Paris Olympics between mid-July and mid-August. He can wait for that.
Moreover, LeBron James has one more year in his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. Then he can play for another season, surely. The 4-time All-Star can do it even at the age of 40, as he kept playing at the peak of his game in the playoffs this season. James scored 40+ points in the last game of the conference finals and became the oldest player to do so. He also became the only player to score 8000 career points in the playoffs. Among the most points in playoffs, Michael Jordan is right after King James, with 2000 fewer points approximately. Hence, LeBron can still go on for a longer time. But the concern is his body and mind and if they allow him to play in a few more seasons.
How Long Will James Wait To Hang His Boots?
LeBron James has always said that winning championships is the most important thing in his career. Hence, it is clear that how much he wanted to win this year. He is 38 currently and at the twilight of his career. However, James has been performing at the highest level, even at this age. Hence, fans and experts thought that he would play even beyond the 40-year-old mark. However, the humiliating loss in the conference finals at the hands of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray must have triggered the retirement thoughts. Now only time will tell if LeBron James will wait for the next year or hang his boots in the off-season.
