Will the NBA’s All-Time Scoring King Retire This Offseason?
It’s no secret that there are many rumors circulating around the future of LeBron James these days. From signing an extension with the Lakers, being traded to another team, or arguably the biggest decision of all, retiring. So what exactly are the odds that the longtime NBA great retires this offseason? Well, the first interesting piece of the puzzle was the Los Angeles Lakers refusing to sign LeBron James to an extension at the end of his previous contract, which concluded after this past season. Now, LeBron ended up exercising his player option of $52.6 million to stay one more year with the Lakers, but this was before his agent, Rich Paul, announced.
"LeBron wants to compete for a championship. He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all…We do want to evaluate what's best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive, and want what's best for him." Accompanying these comments, LeBron himself revealed to Dave McMenamin at a recent Lakers game that he “ain’t got nothing to talk about” regarding his future with the Lakers.
From both of these comments, it seems pretty clear that LeBron James isn’t happy with the Lakers, and his lack of comments regarding the numerous trade rumors swirling around his name lends one to suggest that perhaps he may even want to leave the Lakers for another destination, but how exactly does this relate to his retirement? Well, perhaps LeBron James doesn’t want to deal with the stress of finding a new team or staying with his current one. The James family has been settled in Los Angeles for several years now. His children attend school in the LA area, his family has a home there, and his son, Bronny James, plays for the Lakers. For LeBron James to move to a new city, he would essentially rip up the current way of life for his whole family, something that probably just isn’t worth the risk for someone so late into their career.
At the same time, LeBron James’ agent Rich Paul, who speaks for LeBron on these matters, highly implied that LeBron isn’t falling in line with the Lakers’ philosophy of building around Luka. If he is going to play again, he wants to actually have a chance of winning the championship, thus making his final year “worth it.” So if LeBron doesn’t like the current Lakers roster as he feels they can’t win, and if he isn’t going to move to another team, then maybe he’ll just decide to hang up the shoes and call it quits. Who could blame him, honestly? After playing for over 20 years, LeBron has accomplished pretty much everything a basketball player can. He’s won multiple championships, he’s won multiple MVPs, he's been an all-star, he’s the all-time leading scorer, and he ranks in the top 10 in almost every stat line you can think of. Not to mention, despite what some rumors have said about LeBron wanting a farewell tour, a final season celebrating all his achievements, LeBron himself stated just a couple of years ago that he’s 50-50 on the subject.
“There’s times when I feel like I guess I owe it to my fans that have been along this journey with me for two decades plus, to be able to give them that moment where it’s every city and whatever the case may be, and they give you your flowers or whatever the case may be. That seems cool. But the other side of I’ve never been that great with accepting like praise. It’s a weird feeling for me. I never really talked about it much, but it’s just a weird feeling for me. So to go in each city, if that’s the case -- I don’t know.”
So, is it possible that LeBron may just decide to call it quits out of nowhere? I think it’s a more real possibility than some may think. He’s accomplished everything a player can dream of in the NBA. He’s clearly not happy with the Lakers; it would be bizarre to relocate his family for what might be one more year of basketball, and he’s not necessarily sold on the idea of having a farewell tour. Take all this into consideration and maybe, just maybe, we may see a bowing out from LeBron in a matter of weeks, or potentially even days. I guess time will tell.
