The Los Angeles Lakers were beaten by the Denver Nuggets on Monday completing a four-game Western Conference finals sweep. After the game Lakers star LeBron James dropped a bombshell that many didn’t see coming. Is it possible Bron retires before the start of next season?
“I’m simply not sure if I’ll be back in the fall when the season begins,” James told Bleacher Report. “I have a lot to think about.”
It Gets Harder To Do The Things Necessary To Compete
At age 38 what Bron has accomplished in his career is legendary. He is in all likelihood the greatest basketball player of all time. He’s well within his rights to call it a career and move on to the next phase of his life.
This season in particular was a grind. The slow start by the Lakers and the injuries he and his teammates suffered. He had a tendon issue in his right foot that threatened to keep him out of the playoffs. But he famously went to the “LeBron James of feet,” who said he could play.
Regardless of what doctor he saw, the foot will most likely need surgery this offseason. Not that we would know, as Bron made a point of telling media if he were to get surgery he would do it and be back at training camp without a word getting out.
When athletes consider retirement it’s usually because they no longer find the joy in preparing and doing the work necessary to compete at the highest level. It’s never about the competition itself. They can always get up for that. But as they age and are more injury prone, preparation before, during, and after a season gets longer, harder and more tedious.
Bron may not want to go through that process anymore.
“Just personally, with me moving forward with the game of basketball, I got a lot to think about,” James said postgame.
But there’s another move he could be making.
Bron Has A Plan
Bron has stated many times his desire to play with his son Bronny James. Bronny will be a freshman at USC this coming fall. If all goes according to plan he’ll forgo his final three years of eligibility and declare for the 2024 NBA draft.
Bron has next year and a player option the following season left on his contractual obligation to the Lakers. Maybe he sees the climb to a championship next season too difficult to go through again.
So instead he “retires” next season, giving himself an entire year off to recover physically and mentally. The Lakers develop players within and maybe make a move or two. Bron announces his “comeback” to complete his obligation, aka exercises his player option and he’s ready to play.
It could be with the Lakers, if they draft Bronny. Or they could trade Bron to whatever team drafts Bronny, if it’s not them, and raid said team of draft capital and young talent.
Either way, whatever Bron decides, this is a calculated plan. If we’ve learned anything about Bron over the past 20 years, nothing related to his basketball career is done by accident or in the spur of the moment.
Now there will be wild and endless speculation all the way through the Finals, draft, free agency, summer league and offseason. Every move or non-move by LeBron will be debated and dissected to death.
He has been the sun in the NBA universe for almost 15 years and as his time is winding down he wants another legacy-defining moment, whatever it may be.
