Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James just concluded his 21st season in the NBA after Monday night's Game 5 loss to the Denver Nuggets. With James closer to hitting 40 years of age, his retirement is becoming more imminent and may happen in a matter of time.
Last season, when the Lakers ended their underdog run to the Western Conference Finals and were ousted by the eventual champion Nuggets, questions on James' potential retirement became louder. James and the Lakers were just beaten again by the Nuggets — this time in the first-round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs — and there are questions about whether the superstar will be back in LA next season.
James eventually returned to the Lakers fold last offseason, then proceeded to set more records along the way, including being the first NBA player to breach the 40,000 career points mark. He previously expressed desire to play alongside Bronny James, who made the decision to make himself eligible for the upcoming NBA Draft, and possibly extend his career.
LeBron James' agent gives his take
Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul gave his two cents on whether the Lakers great will continue playing next season, saying LeBron James has “maybe two or three years left in the tank” but could not tell how much longer he will play.
“[H]e’s had an unbelievable career and I think we do see him next year,” Paul said in an interview with Frank Isola and Brian Scalabrine on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “I think we definitely have less years with [LeBron James] than we’ve already been able to enjoy.”
Paul, who is LeBron James' agent and business partner, noted that James has devoted “more than half of his life to basketball” and that he was given pressure differently compared to others, while having to meet certain expectations since he was 18 years old.
“There was no development for him, there was no patience, there was no any of that and he still was able to position himself and succeed,” Paul added. “Obviously he was the first NBA player to kind of quote, unquote ‘I’m gonna do what I want to do’ and I don't think people necessarily like that because in sports, we're so used to having the mindset of, ‘Oh, you should do what this other person did because this other person was a star, and this other person did this like this, and so you should do that like that.'”
“I don’t know how long we see him play but my conversation with him is just have fun. Just enjoy it because you got a lot less years to play than you’ve already played. So just enjoy the ride, man, it’s been a beautiful ride,” Paul noted. “I think when it’s all said and done, they'll be a bunch of people with a thousand stories or what he meant to the game.”
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