LeBron James not sure how for much longer he’s going to play after Lakers’ playoff go out

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James wasn’t able to make any choices about his long run within the painful moments instantly after his 22nd NBA season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first-round playoff go out.

“I don’t have the answer to that,” James stated Wednesday night time when requested how lengthy he’ll proceed to play. “Something I’ll sit down with my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it, and see what happens. Just have conversations with myself on how long I want to continue to play. I don’t know the answer to that right now, to be honest.”

The 40-year-old James has given no public indication he is considering retirement this summer time, however Lakers fanatics will likely be retaining their breath till the highest scorer in NBA historical past makes his plans respectable.

James equipped no hints after recording 22 issues, seven rebounds and 6 assists in the Lakers’ 103-96 loss to Minnesota.

“It’s up to me if I’m going to continue to play, or how long I’m going to continue to play,” James stated. “It’s in the end as much as me, so it has not anything to do with any one else.”

Most observers assume the four-time champion is making plans to go back for a 23rd season, which might ruin the NBA longevity report he these days stocks with Vince Carter. He may be simply 49 regular-season video games at the back of Robert Parish, who holds the NBA report with 1,611 video games performed. James already holds the league report for profession playoff video games with 292.

But his 7th season with the Lakers is over after the Timberwolves’ 4-1 sequence victory. Los Angeles did not construct a profitable dynamic briefly sufficient to the midseason arrival of Luka Doncic in a seismic business for Anthony Davis.

James’ Lakers have complex within the postseason simply as soon as within the 5 years since their championship within the Florida bubble — but when James returns, he is coming again to an absolutely reconfigured crew constructed round his new partnership with Doncic.

James and Doncic performed most effective 21 video games in combination after the deal, and it wasn’t sufficient to maximise their attainable teamwork. Another complete yr in combination may just elevate their partnership to bold ranges, and James nonetheless turns out intrigued through the possibility of taking part in a complete yr or extra along the Slovenian celebrity he has described as his favourite lively participant.

“Anytime you make a big acquisition in the middle of the season, it’s always going to be challenging, not only for me, but for (Austin Reaves) and the rest of the group,” James stated. “There were times where we obviously didn’t look so well, but I think we kind of figured it out later in the season, the more games we had. I still don’t think we had enough time to mesh, but for the time that we had, I thought we ended the regular season very well to be top three in the West.”

Doncic is not the one teammate who may just compel James to go back: His 20-year-old son, Bronny, is coming off a shockingly cast rookie season with the Lakers wherein they was the primary father and son to play in combination in NBA historical past.

Bronny James is hoping to carve out a larger position along his father subsequent season once you have sporadic taking part in time this yr. LeBron stated the danger to paintings along Bronny this season was once the “No. 1” accomplishment of his profession.

There are not any obvious contractual or monetary problems in James’ method: He has a participant choice for subsequent season that may pay him greater than $56.2 million. That’s critical cash to depart at the desk, even for a trade wealthy person with a web value estimated at greater than $1 billion.

An 8th consecutive season with the Lakers will be the longest stretch of his profession with one crew, surpassing his first seven seasons with Cleveland — even if he returned for 4 extra years and a championship with the Cavaliers.

James’ stage of play remained top in his 22nd season, confounding all earlier notions of basketball longevity. He averaged 24.4 issues according to recreation — his lowest since his rookie season, however simply slightly — along side 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds.

James remained the Lakers’ center whilst they gained 52 video games and the Pacific Division identify in spite of the midseason roster upheaval. Every vital contributor in this season’s roster is beneath contract for 2025-26 excluding for Dorian Finney-Smith, who has a $15.3 million participant choice, and inconsistent middle Jaxson Hayes.

In a second of mirrored image close to his 40th birthday closing December, James speculated that he may just proceed to play at this stage for 5 to seven extra years. He does not intend to stay round that lengthy, alternatively.