“I don’t like to say it’s a successful year because I don’t play for anything besides winning championships at this point in my career. You know, I don’t get a kick out of making a Conference [Finals] appearance. I’ve done it. A lot. And it’s not fun to me to not be able to be a part of getting to the Finals. But we’ll see. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens going forward. I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ve got a lot to think about to be honest. I’ve got a lot to think about to be honest. Just for me personally, going forward with the game of basketball, I’ve got a lot to think about.”
LeBron James made those comments the night the Denver Nuggets swept the Lakers out of the playoffs, and he confirmed when asked follow-up questions that he planned to consider retirement this summer. Nobody believed it. The comments played more like a shot across the bow of the Lakers’ front office, a reminder not to cheap out during the offseason, as opposed to an actual threat to walk away from a team where he just signed a two-year, $97.6 million contract extension.
But in case anyone still had doubts, LeBron confirmed at the ESPYs that he is not retiring.
"Lucky for you guys, that day is not today."
— ESPN (@espn) July 13, 2023
Go off, Bron 😂 pic.twitter.com/4X1Fqs0PqX
“I don’t care how many more points I score, or what I can or cannot do on the floor. The real question for me is: Can I play without cheating this game? The day I can’t give everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today.”
LeBron didn’t look like a player ready to retire, despite turning 38 during last season. He averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists a game (in 55 games), and in the playoffs he and Anthony Davis led the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals. Along the way, LeBron passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most points scored in NBA history (which is why he was given an ESPY).
LeBron seems happy with what was a quality off-season by the Lakers’ front office. Maybe he didn’t get the splashy third star he wanted, but considering the Lakers’ most recent experience with that path, their decisions to re-sign key parts of their core — Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura — plus good free agent signings such as Gabe Vincent is the smarter play. The Lakers should be a little better than the team we saw after the All-Star break, which had the best defense in the NBA and played at a 57-win pace. Los Angeles likely doesn’t win at that clip over 82 games in a deep West, but if LeBron and Davis are healthy when the playoffs hit, the Lakers are a threat.
And LeBron will be with them.
