With the Los Angeles Lakers season finally over following their series ending loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, the Lakers now enter a critical offseason that leaves the future of their franchise cornerstone LeBron James up in the air.
James, 39, who finished his 21st season with 30 points, 11 assists, 9 rebounds and 4 steals against the Nuggets on Monday night said that he will be immediately focused on his family before turning his attention to training camp for USA Basketball ahead of the Paris Olympics this summer, leaving uncertainty hovering over his future in Los Angeles.
“I don’t have an answer … to be honest. I haven’t given it much thought” James said when asked about playing a 22nd season, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. James added that he would sit down with his agent, Rich Paul, and family to evaluate “what’s best for my career.”
“We’ll cross that when we need to,” James said.
James was asked if he thought Monday night’s game would be his last as a Laker and responded – “I’m not going to answer that.”
James will now have until June 29th to decide to opt into the final year of his contract with the Lakers, which is for $51.4 million, or choose to become an unrestricted free agent.
“I mean, he has been in this position numerous times in his career, where he had to make a decision ultimately for himself and his family,” Lakers big man Anthony Davis said of James. “I’ll be right there supporting whatever he decides to do. … It’s still fresh. I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s not even on his mind right now. But I’m pretty sure he’ll come talk to me, tell me what’s going on before he becomes public with the situation, just to keep me in the loop.”
“Obviously, it’s been a great five seasons with him,” Davis added. “If he does decide to come back, obviously this isn’t what we want to be left at, losing in the first round. If he does, obviously our goal is to come back and be a championship contender, stay healthy and give Laker Nation what they deserve.
“But he has a decision to make, and when that time comes, he’ll inform me and inform you guys.”
James’ agent, and Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul spoke about James’ future during an interview Frank Isola and Brian Scalabrine on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
“He’s had an unbelievable career, and I think we do see him next year” Paul said. “I think we definitely have less years with [him] than we’ve already been able to enjoy.”
“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 continued . “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.”
