{"id":72,"date":"2026-05-12T08:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=72"},"modified":"2026-05-12T08:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:04:14","slug":"lebron-james-hasnt-decided-whether-to-return-for-a-24th-nba-season-after-lakers-playoff-run-ends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=72","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James hasn\u2019t decided whether to return for a 24th NBA season after Lakers\u2019 playoff run ends"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 LeBron James says he has no idea whether his 24-point performance in the Los Angeles Lakers\u2019 season-ending playoff loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night was the final game of his NBA career.<\/p>\n

Read more Champion Thunder hold off tenacious Lakers 115-110 in Game 4 for another playoff series sweep<\/a><\/p>\n

The top scorer in league history stuck to the strategy he has taken into the past several summers when he declined to announce his future immediately after the Lakers\u2019 final postseason defeat.<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t ruled out retirement or a return to the Lakers, and he said nothing about the possibility of moving to another team as he contemplates an unprecedented 24th NBA season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what the future holds for me, obviously, as it stands right now tonight,\u201d the 41-year-old James said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of time now. I think I said it last year after we lost to Minnesota. I\u2019ll go back and recalibrate with my family and talk with them and spend some time with them, and then obviously when the time comes, you guys will know what I decide to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

James\u2019 record 23rd season ended with a heartbreaking 115-110 loss, completing a four-game sweep of the short-handed Lakers by the defending NBA champions. Los Angeles began the playoffs without NBA scoring champ Luka Doncic and second-leading scorer Austin Reaves due to injury, yet James led the Lakers to a first-round upset of Houston before running into the league\u2019s best team in the second round.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing what he\u2019s doing out there at this age,\u201d Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cIt\u2019s very impressive. It\u2019s hard to put it to words. He\u2019s not very old in the grand scheme of life, but for the NBA, he\u2019s pretty old, and he doesn\u2019t seem like it out there. He was a force. He was the top of the scouting report all series. His size gave us issues at times. He was impressive out there. I\u2019m not sure we\u2019ll see anything like that again, his longevity and his greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n

James has played in more games, won more games, scored more points and taken more shots than everybody else who ever put on a uniform, but he has never put a limit on his time in the game.<\/p>\n

Instead, he repeated his oft-stated declarations that he\u2019ll figure it out with his family over a few glasses of wine in the next couple of months.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody has any idea what the future holds, and I don\u2019t either,\u201d James said. \u201cI\u2019ll take time to recalibrate and look over the season and see what\u2019s best for my future, and when I get to that point, everyone will know.\u201d<\/p>\n

James showed only marginal signs of age\u2019s encroachment in his 23rd season, continuing to play versatile basketball at an elite level throughout the Lakers\u2019 successful regular season.<\/p>\n

Injuries forced his largest compromises: He missed training camp and the first 14 games of the season with sciatica, and he missed eight additional games during the regular season, eliminating him from consideration for inclusion on the All-NBA teams for the 22nd consecutive time.<\/p>\n

With Doncic winning the NBA scoring title and Reaves emerging as a legitimate top-level NBA scorer, James willingly assumed a supporting role as the No. 3 option in the Lakers\u2019 offense \u2014 and it worked.<\/p>\n

His 20.9 points per game were his fewest since his rookie season, largely because his 3-point shooting accuracy declined to 31.7%, and his 33.2 minutes per game were his fewest ever. Yet he contributed 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds with another season of steady performances \u2014 and when the Lakers needed him to step up, he did it repeatedly.<\/p>\n

Read more From 4 points to tying a playoff record with a 39-point half, Donovan Mitchell flips Game 4 for Cavs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so many different seasons in one season with our ballclub,\u201d James said. \u201cObviously injuries played a big part in it, but as far as our identity, I thought it was super-resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n

James was chosen for the All-Star Game for the 22nd time, and right before the midseason break, he became the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double. He surpassed Robert Parish\u2019s record for the most regular-season games played in late March.<\/p>\n

The Lakers picked up steam down the stretch in the regular season, winning 16 of 18 heading into April and kindling hope of being a dark-horse candidate to give trouble to the Thunder or Spurs in the playoffs. But that\u2019s when Doncic and Reaves both incurred major injuries, sidelining both indefinitely.<\/p>\n

James handled the disappointment by stepping up and coolly taking charge of the Lakers\u2019 offense again. While nearly every NBA observer wrote off Los Angeles\u2019 chances of any playoff run, James and his supporting cast improbably knocked off the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets in six games in the first round, sending the Lakers into the second round for only the second time since 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor our group to have the moment that we had when Luka goes down with the hamstring and AR goes down with the oblique and we\u2019re staring down the barrel of a playoff series with Houston, I thought our guys responded and were just super-resilient,\u201d James said. \u201cTo win that series was big-time for the group that went out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

James\u2019 reasons to prolong his career in Los Angeles would be multifold.<\/p>\n

He has spent the past two seasons playing alongside Bronny James, his oldest son and a backup guard for the Lakers. They even got significant playoff minutes together this season, allowing LeBron to live another dream.<\/p>\n

His family loves living in Southern California \u2014 and while his sons are both out of the family home, he has spoken frequently of his desire to watch the progress of his 11-year-old daughter, Zhuri, a competitive volleyball player.<\/p>\n

And the Lakers\u2019 outstanding play down the stretch suggested they could be among the NBA\u2019s best teams with full health for Doncic, James and Reaves \u2014 who is expected to sign a massive contract to stay with the Lakers this summer.<\/p>\n

Whether the Lakers can actually contend for a championship next season will be one factor that James must weigh, but finding a true title contender to join at this stage of his career would be difficult even if the Thunder and the rising San Antonio Spurs didn\u2019t appear to be head and shoulders above the rest of the league.<\/p>\n

For now, James will take time off to enjoy life away from the daily grind that has allowed his career to reach unprecedented lengths \u2014 and if he decides not to come back, he doesn\u2019t appear to have regrets about how this season ended.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI left everything I could on the floor,\u201d James said. \u201cI control what I can control, and I can leave the floor saying even though I hate losing, I was locked in on what we needed to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Mookie Betts returns to the Dodgers\u2019 lineup after an oblique injury<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/NBA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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