The Los Angeles Lakers were just officially eliminated from title contention Monday evening, as they were bested in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals by the Denver Nuggets. While there has been significant coverage of LA's ouster and Denver's historic NBA Finals berth, easily the biggest storyline to come out of this series is the uncertain future of LeBron James.
Following the Lakers' loss, the superstar forward told reporters that he will consider the possibility of retirement during the coming offseason which, naturally, has everyone from league personnel to mere fans on the edge of their seats.
Being it's been less than 24 hours since Los Angeles played their final game of 2022-23 and since he made his cryptic comments, it's rather hard to determine what the future will have in store for the likes of LeBron James. However, regarding his possible retirement, the oddsmakers view it as highly unlikely that he'll look to throw in the towel ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, as betonline.ag has him at -1000 (1/10) when it comes to not retiring compared to +550 (11/2) that he will.
Coming off his 20th season in the Association, it's evident that, despite the significant tread on his tires, LeBron James has still proven that he can perform at a sensational level. Logging 35.5 minutes per night, the 38-year-old finished off the year with stellar averages of 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists while shooting 50.0% from the field.
Considering his high-end productivity, coupled with the fact that he's still under contract through the 2024-25 season, many, including the oddsmakers, seem to believe that the probability of James playing another year is rather high.