After yet another early playoff exit for the Los Angeles Lakers, superstar LeBron James says he’ll be mulling over his future in the league with his family in the coming days.
Since James and the Lakers won the NBA Finals in 2020, Los Angeles has been demanding another championship out of their marquee basketball team.
But instead, the Lakers have made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons – with three of those playoff appearances ending in the first round. That includes on Wednesday night, when Los Angeles was eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Now, as the team looks set to enter the Luka Doncic era, James was non-committal on staying with the team or retiring.
Rather, as he told reporters in a post-game press conference, he’ll take some time to think through the decision with those closest to him.
‘I don’t know, I don’t have an answer to that,’ LeBron said when asked about his future in the league.
LeBron James told reporters he’d consult his family on retirement after his playoff elimination
James and the Lakers were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs for the third time in the past five seasons when they lost in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday
L-R: Bronny James, Bryce James, Zhuri James, Savannah James, and Gloria James in 2023
‘Something I’ll sit down with my family, my wife and my support group, and kinda just talk through it and see what happens.
‘And just have conversations with myself on how long I want to continue to play. I don’t know the answer to that right now, we’ll see.’
James has played 22 seasons in the NBA, including the last seven with the Lakers.
If he plays in 2025-26, the 39-year-old will pass Vince Carter for the most NBA seasons in a career.
Since that 2020 title, the Lakers only missed the playoffs in the 2021-22 season, which led to the firing of coach Frank Vogel. The season prior, Vogel’s Lakers lost the first round in six games to the Phoenix Suns.
After hiring Darvin Ham for the 2022-23 season, the seven-seeded Lakers made a shock run all the way to the Western Conference Finals.
They dispatched both the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors in six games before promptly being swept by the Denver Nuggets, who would go on to win the title.
The following season, the Lakers met the Nuggets again – this time, in the first round. They lost in five games and Ham was fired.
Star guard Luka Doncic (77) led the Lakers in points on the night in the losing effort
Meanwhile, Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert put up 27 points and 24 rebounds in the victory
This year, the Lakers were the three seed and were expected to easily handle Minnesota.
Instead, the team lost its second-straight first round series in five games, losing 103-96 at home to end their first season under coach JJ Redick.
James had 22 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in the final game of the season for the Lakers as they now head to the offseason.
Doncic put up a team-high 28 points with seven boards and nine assists as well.
Meanwhile, Minnesota was led by a monstrous double-double effort from center Rudy Gobert who dropped 27 points and a whopping 24 rebounds.
The Wolves will now play the winner of the series between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors. Golden State put up a 3-1 series lead on Houston, but lost last night’s game 131-116 to see their lead be reduced to 3-2. Game 6 is Friday night.
