'Don't have the answer': LeBron James coy on NBA future after Lakers crash out of playoffs
Updated . First published at
LeBron James wasn't ready to make any decisions about his future in the painful moments immediately after his 22nd NBA season ended in a playoffs defeat.
James has given no public indication he is thinking about retirement, but Lakers fans will be holding their breath until the top scorer in NBA history makes his plans official.
James provided no hints after recording 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the Lakers' 103-96 loss to Minnesota.
“I don’t have the answer to that,” he said.
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Will a 41-year-old LeBron return? NBAE via Getty Images
"I don’t know the answer to that right now, to be honest.
“Something I’ll sit down with my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it, and see what happens.
“It’s up to me if I’m going to continue to play, or how long I’m going to continue to play.
“It’s ultimately up to me, so it has nothing to do with anybody else."
Most observers think the four-time champion is planning to return for a 23rd season, which would break the NBA longevity record he currently shares with Vince Carter.
He is also just 49 regular-season games behind Robert Parish, who holds the NBA record with 1611 games played.
James already holds the league record for career playoff games with 292.
But his seventh season with the Lakers is over after the Timberwolves' 4-1 series victory. Los Angeles didn't build a winning dynamic quickly enough to the midseason arrival of Luka Doncic in a seismic trade for Anthony Davis.
Luka Doncic #77 and LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on. NBAE via Getty Images
James' Lakers have advanced in the postseason just once in the five years since their championship in the Florida bubble — but if James returns, he's coming back to a completely reconfigured team built around his new partnership with Doncic.
James and Doncic played only 21 games together after the deal, and it wasn't enough to maximize their potential teamwork.
Another full year together could raise their partnership to formidable levels, and James still seems intrigued by the prospect of playing a full year or more alongside the Slovenian superstar he has described as his favourite active player.
Doncic isn't the only teammate who could compel James to return: His 20-year-old son, Bronny, is coming off a surprisingly solid rookie season with the Lakers in which they became the first father and son to play together in NBA history.
Bronny James is hoping to carve out a bigger role alongside his father next season after getting sporadic playing time this year. LeBron said the chance to work alongside Bronny this season was the “No. 1” accomplishment of his career.
Bronny James shakes hands with LeBron James. Getty
Earlier, Rudy Gobert had playoff career highs with 27 points and 24 rebounds, Julius Randle added 23 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves advanced in the NBA playoffs with a 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of their first-round series.
Anthony Edwards had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Wolves, who won three straight games to eliminate James and Luka Doncic from their first post-season together.
James was widely criticised for a "flop" after he was clattered by Timberwolves player Donte DiVincenzo in the fourth quarter at the tail end of a series in which the ageing megastar was battered by a physical defence.
After winning a playoff round in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history, Minnesota next faces the winner of Houston’s series with Golden State. The Rockets avoided elimination, with the Warriors leading 3-2.
Doncic had 28 points and nine assists for the Lakers, who lost in the first round for the second straight post-season despite reconfiguring their roster at mid-season with their seismic trade for Doncic.
Rui Hachimura scored 23 points for the Lakers, who have advanced from the opening round just once in five seasons since their 2020 championship in the Florida bubble.
Luka Doncic (77) is guarded by Anthony Edwards (5) of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Anadolu via Getty Images
With Gobert running amok in the paint while the Lakers deliberately played without a centre, Minnesota won Game 5 despite going 7 for 47 on 3-point attempts, including 17 consecutive misses between the middle of the second quarter and Mike Conley’s dagger 3 with 1:22 to play.
After splitting the first two games in Los Angeles, the Wolves seized control of the series in back-to-back narrow home victories with superior late-game execution.
Gobert then stepped up when the Lakers deployed a small-ball line-up for Game 5, with the French centre scoring more points than he managed in the series’ first four games combined.
Minnesota nursed a narrow lead down the stretch, and the Lakers missed five consecutive shots while going 3 1/2 minutes between points.
After playing the entire second half of Game 4 with five players, the Lakers changed their starting line-up for Game 5, keeping tenacious wing Dorian Finney-Smith in place of centre Jaxson Hayes.
Lakers coach JJ Redick defended his decision to eschew substitutions this week, even reacting testily when a reporter asked him about his decision process before Game 5.
