On the day LeBron James celebrated his 40th birthday, the Lakers star admitted that although he could play five to seven more seasons, he has no intention of playing and, perhaps more importantly, in Los Angeles. He reaffirmed his desire to finish his career.
“I think that's the plan,” James told reporters Monday about retiring with the Lakers. “I wanted it to end here. That would be the plan. I came here to finish the last stage of my career here. … I hope I don't have to go anywhere before my career is over.” ”
But James also said Friday that he understands how the business of basketball works, and that once he retires, he won't come out of retirement like quarterbacks Tom Brady and Brett Favre did during their playing days. He added that he had no intention of doing so.
It was a similar answer to the one James gave at last year's NBA All-Star Game when he said, “I've been happy being a Laker for the past six years” and “I hope it stays that way.”
“I can't give you any answers about how long or what uniform he'll wear,” James continued, “but I hope it's with the Lakers.”
Still, speculation about his eventual retirement dogged James throughout the latter half of his career, both before and after the Lakers drafted his son Bronny in the second round and the pair made father-son NBA history in their first appearances. Same game.
James arrived in Los Angeles during free agency ahead of the 2018-19 season and helped the Lakers win the title when the NBA moved the season to the Disney bubble due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
James has struggled at times this season, suffering an abysmal 3-point shooting drought over four games and missing two games while away from the team for personal reasons earlier this month.
Still, the Lakers are averaging 23.5 points, 9.0 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game heading into Tuesday's game against the Cavaliers, sitting in fifth place in the Western Conference and eight games behind the leader Thunder.
“Honestly, if I really wanted to, I could probably play this game at a high level…I could probably play another five to seven years if I wanted to,” James said. “But I'm not going to do that.”
