LeBron James addressed his status with the Los Angeles Lakers following the conclusion of his 21st NBA season on Monday night. The 39-year-old led his team with 30 points in their 108-106 Game 5 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.
“Nah, I just want to get home to the family, honestly,” LeBron replied when asked if he's given thought to his basketball future. “One of my boys is trying to decide if he’s going to enter the draft or go back to school. Another kid is playing AAU ball right now. My daughter is playing volleyball. My wife is doing so many great things. So it’s about family right now.”
LeBron provided a similar answer to ESPN when asked about his NBA mortality:
“I'm not about to just be out there just for cardio. I'm going to be honest, I love it. I love going out there and competing, but I can't, me personally, I got to be a threat at all times when I'm on the floor. So I take a lot of pride in that.
“It's still coming. It's not like, ‘Oh s–t, I'm playing so great this year, you know what? I might play and stick around for even more.' No. It's coming. … It's cool. Because, to be honest, I don't see myself falling off anytime soon. But then like, ‘What am I doing?'
“I got a family. I got a nine-year-old daughter. I got a son that's in college, that's deciding if he's going to go to college or go pro. I got a son that's about to be a senior in high school. I've missed a lot of family time and they've allowed me to do that and never put no pressure on me. …
“That s–t is important, too … I've done everything I can do. There's nothing I haven't accomplished in this league that I've wanted to accomplish. So like at some point you got to (retire).”
At his exit interview, LeBron said he'll sit down with his agent, Rich Paul, and his family to plot the next steps. LeBron has until June 29 to pick up his $51.4 million player option for 2024-25. He's eligible to sign a 3-year, $164 max extension with the Lakers.
LeBron, a two-time gold medalist (2008, 2012), will join Anthony Davis on the 12-man Team USA roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. USA Basketball training camp begins on July 6.
“In a couple months, I gotta go to Vegas for training camp,” LeBron noted. “So I gotta rest my body for USAB. So that's kind of the initial thoughts.”
Davis pledged to “absolutely” recruit LeBron over the summer.
“Feel like we complement each other. We've done something special together. Good thing about it, I'm gonna be with him all summer. So, have a lot of conversations and things like that. But he knows how I feel about him.”
The expectation is for LeBron to play up to two more years, according to a report from The Athletic released shortly after Game 5. The Lakers will consider adding a third star this summer, perhaps Trae Young or Donovan Mitchell.
The same exposé indicated the Lakers are “very open” to incorporating Bronny James into their development pipeline, should he remain in the 2024 NBA Draft pool. LeBron was asked if teaming up with Bronny, 19, remains his intention.
“I haven't given much thought lately. Obviously, I've thought about it in the past. At the end of the day, the kid — I don't even want to say ‘kid' no more — the young man will decide what he wants to do and how he wants his career to go. I think the fact that we're even having the conversation is pretty cool.”
For the last question he faced before his offseason, LeBron was asked if Game 5 might've been his last game with the Lakers.
“Um, I'm not going to answer that,” he said with a smirk. “I appreciate it.”
LeBron played 71 games this season — plus the In-Season Tournament and Play-In. He averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.3 assists in 35.3 minutes while shooting a career-high 41.5% from the 3-point line.