LeBron James couldn’t do enough to hold off the Nuggets or avoid a sweep. Now he’s admitting retirement could be on the table.
For one half, at least, LeBron James looked like LeBron James again.
At 38 years old these have been, by far, the least productive playoffs of LeBron’s career — still impressive but nowhere near his own lofty standards. Going into Game 4 against the Nuggets, he was averaging 23.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game but was at or near career lows in postseason points, usage and assist rate. The supporting cast and the defense had been the story in getting the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals, but LeBron’s lack of domination cast a looming shadow over the first three games against Denver, all Lakers’ losses.
Facing elimination, LeBron came out and reminded us what he was capable of, scoring 31 first-half points in Game 4, helping the Lakers build a 15-point lead. But it seemed that was all the greatness he could muster.
In the second half, he looked like a 38-year-old great in his 20th season, running on fumes. He had 9 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists but shot 4-of-12 from the field, missing two attempts at a game-tying shot in the final 30 seconds as the Nuggets completed the comeback and the sweep.
Will LeBron James really consider retirement?
After the game, LeBron addressed what would come next for him and clearly put a possible retirement on the table.
If that wasn’t clear enough, ESPN followed up with LeBron after the press conference and he had this to say:
When you say you got to think about stuff, what thread should we be pulling on that?
“If I want to continue to play,” James said.
As in next year?
“Yeah.”
You would walk away?
“I got to think about it.”
LeBron has two more years on his deal with the Lakers, for roughly $97 million combined. However, the second year is a player option and he is free to retire at any time, regardless of his contract. He suffered through a variety of injuries this season, appearing in just 55 games, and his health is clearly taking a toll. Since joining the Lakers five seasons ago, he’s appeared in just 278 of a possible 390 regular season games.
The Lakers have a lot of big decisions to make about their supporting cast this offseason and will likely wait for clarity from James before making decisions on free agents like D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura.
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