LeBron James revealed he doesn’t have “much time left” in the NBA after making a career-high 3-point shot against the Nets on Sunday night.
James is in his 21st season, and there is a lot of speculation about how long the superstar will remain in the league.
But comments made after the Lakers’ 116-104 win over the Nets may indicate the end is closer than people think.
“Not too long. I’m over the hill,” James said when asked about his remaining time in the NBA. “I’m not going to play for another 21 years, that’s for sure. Not too long. When I retire, I don’t know when that door will close, but I don’t have a lot of time left.”
James turned 39 in December and still has a $54.1 million player option remaining on his contract for the 2024-25 season.
The Lakers star recorded his third 40-point game of the season at Barclays Center, averaging 25.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game while shooting 53 percent from the field.
James will become an unrestricted free agent when his player option expires on June 29, according to Spotrac.
His future in the NBA is also clouded by what his son Bronny James does regarding his own future.
Bronny James is finishing his freshman year at the University of Southern California, and while James has expressed a desire to play in the NBA alongside his son, these comments were originally made during a Trojans workout last summer. It was issued before it caused an outage and threatened Bronny’s health.
Clutch Sports CEO Rich Paul he told ESPN in early March. Bronny will enter the 2024 NBA Draft based on which teams are interested in him, not where he will be selected.
