LeBron James‘ longtime agent believes he’s still got a couple of years left. Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul said in Sirius XM NBA Radio interview (Twitter link) with Frank Isola and Brian Scalabrine doesn’t think the Lakers superstar is pondering retirement after the season.
“He’s had an unbelievable career. I think we do see him next year,” Paul said. “How many more after that? I do not know. But I think he’s got two or three years left in the tank, maybe.”
James will turn 40 on New Year’s Eve. He holds a player option of $51.4MM for next season. He could pick up that option and negotiate an extension or decline it and pursue a new contract as an unrestricted free agent
The four-time MVP averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 rebounds while appearing in 71 regular-season games. He has continued to play heavy, productive minutes in the playoffs.
James has often stated he’d like to last long enough to play with his son Bronny James, who has declared for the draft. But Bronny’s uneven season at USC after rehabbing from a heart condition dropped his draft stock. The plan is for Bronny to visit and work out for NBA teams, then decide based on the feedback he receives whether to remain in the draft and go pro or return to college for at least one more year.
The guy is a genetic freak, he doesn’t play defense though but he is 40 so that side is the hardest thing.
Lakers have no shot winning, they will get some imaginary 3rd star but does not matter. AD can’t finish.
At the end of the day, it’s just basketball
Another braindead comment. No surprise though. Did you watch this series? He was the Lakers best defender besides AD
He plays spurts of defense, he can get steals from the passing lanes and make those great chase down blocks. He isn’t guarding and stopping guys, Murray was being guarded by Reaves.
He can be a team defender but not a 1 on 1 defender like a Dort or McDaniels.
The rest of the team is not allowed to play better than LeBron that’s what they lost so he can push the blame on everybody else.
Bron + Bronny to Spurs. Also cp3.
LeBron doesn’t play defense? What??
He doesn’t consistently play defense anymore. Saying otherwise just means we can’t trust you to be objective.
“The guy is a genetic freak,”
You spelled HGH wrong.
He’s got 2-3 more first round exists in him
Could get another in season tournament trophy.
Few free throws short.
LBJ is just a super incredible athlete… Age is just a number until not, period…
Hard to turn down that much money but with what lebrons made in his career and through endorsements i wouldn’t be surprised if he just declined the option and ring chased with a better team for a less money and a less demanding role……..his ego won’t let him do any of that but I wish it would
Ring chasing is pathetic, any star with self awareness & pride in himself would never do it!
I just hate ring chasing, really sad!
LeBron has made a point throughout his career to emphasize player empowerment. Declining 50 million and signing with say the Thunder on an MLE sets bad precedent for older high value free agents going forward.
Maybe LeBron doesn’t care about that. Klutch sports sure does.
I’m not Lebron so I can’t live for him.. but the man’s a literal billionaire now… he doesn’t need to play for a big pay check anymore. If I’m him I pull an Alonzo Mourning or Michael Jordan… sign with a team that means something to you (Miami or Cleveland) and sign for the league minimum. It will do wonders for his legacy as a player (which is hurting right now) and might get him another ring. Just my 2 cents.
How is having a monster season at age 39 hurting his legacy?
the playoff losses and seemingly clinging to a team on the downfall while making 50 mill… basically doing what Kobe did the last 4-5 years of his career at this point. The Lakers need to reset and build around AD… Lebron makes that impossible at this point. In fact if they don’t reset soon AD will be too old to build around
Let’s be honest here, if LeBron wins a championship making league minimum instead of $50 million all the LeBron haters would be out in full force saying that it doesn’t count.
then they just won’t be satisfied.. because it would be the most unselfish basketball act he’s ever made lol
Kobe didn’t lose in the Finals more than he won and also was a legacy player. They aren’t comparable in this particular instance.
I hear you Jeremyn and agree
He’d have to cut down close to 23 mill next year to ensure Lakers of the full Mle
Or he can go to Cle or Dal for the full Mle as well. ((* Dal would need a little cleanup to get to full Mle but I think they could easily get there )
Either way we can’t see the “ hourglass emoji “ next deadline if he takes 50 mill and take the message with any kinda sincerity , in fact it’s kinda absurd and comical at that point
He can last more than 2-3 years, he’s still the best 3 in the league and very easily a top 10 player… so why even bother talking about retiring!!!
Dont worry, he is gonna take a huge pay cut, a la TD or Dirk, so he can be surrounded by the best players. He’s that selfless
LMAO
He’s still a top 5 player all time!
Quick question here. How do you mismanage a game so bad you don’t have a time out left with four seconds on the clock to set up a game tying or winning shot attempt?
hire darvin ham as head coach
Lol, yup !!
Lakers 27 FTA. Nuggets 9 FTA. LeBron 7 FTA. The NBA will continue to protect LeFlop.
This is what most people will remember. Dude had all the refs in his pocket and they still couldn’t get out of the first round.
The problem is the Lakers are 90% likely to not win another title in the next 3 seasons but Bron and his brand needs to be in a big market.
GSW don’t have the money, Clippers would be a huge stain on the legacy, Brooklyn nope, Mavs no money the only real possibilities to me are ….
Philadelphia or the Knicks
Philly have cap space, have the talent and have the market. They’d be able to keep Maxey and Embiid ass LeBron have this insane big 3 and still be able to fill out the bench reasonably well I’d assume. Nick Nurse is a solid coach, he was very tempted before LA apparently but personally don’t see it happening.
NY would be crazy for the legacy.
Could the only man who’s won 3 times in 3 cities go to a fourth in the Knicks who haven’t been a true contender in decades and get them over the hump. Playing at MSG all the time, in the best place ever to work his imagine and brand off the court. The team would need to make some big adjustments but could make it happen. They have a good experienced coach, it would be an insane way to go out but probably too much of a task in his 40’s.
I see him staying in LA taking the money, hoping they can add a third star but simply doing what’s best for the family now
This Knicks fan is torn. Theoretically we could trade some combo of Randle, Robinson and Bogdanovic for him, but I wouldn’t. I want to keep our window open rather than go for a short-term play.
Sixers make sense, they can just sign him into cap space and fill the roster with ring-chasers. If he can keep Kyrie on the straight and narrow, he can maybe do the same for Embiid.
He should go back to Cleveland or Miami for a season or two. Better shot to win a title with those two than in LA.
Two or three more years of desperation and egocentricity.
Should be entertaining.
Says the guy who posted 2 separate trolling insults in the same thread lol glwt
Lebron looked really good in this series. Truly amazing what he’s doing at 39
He wants on a young talented team! It either OKC or maybe even the Celtics. Philly would be great or the knicks. I think Labron would be great for Cleveland but a lot of hard feelings there! Labron must be on a stacked team because he is a spoiled A$$ brat who has lost a lot of respect from the fans. Personally I wish him and his family good health but I really hope he never wins nothing again! He has destroyed so many teams with his defacto GM attitude.
If you wish him to “never win nothing,” you’re wishing him to win.
double negatives become their own thing
Lebron plays very good weak side defense, but rarely plays his assignment face up.
An over the hill superstar that will never sniff another ring. Let him go somewhere that will sign Bronny so they can play together for a season.