LOS ANGELES – LeBron James declined to be drawn on his National Basketball Association (NBA) future on April 29 in the wake of the Los Angeles Lakers’ play-off exit to the Denver Nuggets.
The 39-year-old NBA superstar once again produced another superb performance that belied his age with 30 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. It ended a campaign in which he averaged 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds in the regular season, then 27.8 points, 8.8 assists and 6.8 rebounds in the Lakers’ five play-off games.
But it was not enough to stop the Lakers from falling to an agonising 108-106 loss as Denver completed a 4-1 series victory to end James’ hopes of adding a fifth NBA championship ring in the twilight of his career.
In 2023, James had sparked speculation he could retire after the Lakers were swept 4-0 by Denver in the Western Conference Finals, confirming to reporters he was considering walking away from the sport.
On April 29, questions about James’ future dominated the post-game press conference in Denver after a disappointing end to the 21st season of a glittering career.
Asked if the defeat at Ball Arena could have been his final appearance in Lakers’ colours, James smiled before replying: “I’m not going to answer that.”
James, who has a year left on his current Lakers contract but reportedly has an opt-out clause that leaves him free to join other teams, said he had not given serious thought to his next steps.
“I just want to get home to the family, honestly,” he said.
“I’ll start looking at the schedule. One of my boys is just trying to decide if he’s going to enter the draft or go back to school. I’ve got another kid playing ball, my daughter’s playing volleyball.
“And my wife is doing so many great things. So it’s about family right now.
“And then in a couple of months I gotta go to Vegas for (Olympic) training camp. So I’m gonna rest my body for USA. That’s kind of the initial thoughts.”
James has previously talked about prolonging his NBA career in order to play alongside his eldest son, Bronny, if the 19-year-old enters the league.
James though played down that possibility on April 29, insisting he had not “given it much thought lately”.
“Obviously, I’ve thought about it in the past but at the end of the day the kid has to do what he wants to do,” James said. “He will decide what he wants to do and how he wants his career to go.”
Lakers defensive stalwart Anthony Davis, meanwhile, said he had no inkling of what James might decide to do next season.
“He’s been in this position numerous times in his career where he had to make a decision, for himself and his family,” Davis said.
“And I’ll be right there supporting him whatever he decides to do. I don’t know but I’m pretty sure he’ll come and talk to me and tell me what’s going on before it becomes public.
“Obviously, it’s been a great five seasons. If he does decide to come back, this is not where we want to be – over in the first round. We want to be championship contenders.”
The Lakers won the inaugural in-season tournament, beating the Indiana Pacers 123-109 in the Las Vegas final in December. James was selected the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).
In addition to being a four-time NBA champion, he is a four-time NBA Finals MVP and a four-time regular-season MVP. The Akron, Ohio, native is the league’s all-time leading scorer, having passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for that distinction last November.
Champions Denver will face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the next round.
Meanwhile, in other games on April 29, the Oklahoma City Thunder sealed a 4-0 series sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans to book a second-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers or the Dallas Mavericks.
Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City finally got the better of New Orleans with a late scoring burst in the fourth quarter to complete a 97-89 road victory in Louisiana.
Elsewhere, Derrick White scored 38 points as top seeds the Boston Celtics dominated the Miami Heat 102-88 on the road to take a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series.
AFP, REUTERS
