{"id":370257,"date":"2025-12-25T04:32:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T04:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/370257\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T04:32:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T04:32:07","slug":"austin-rivers-believes-lebron-james-is-mentally-moving-on-from-nba-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/370257\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Rivers Believes LeBron James Is Mentally Moving On From NBA Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin Rivers<\/a> offered a blunt assessment of where LeBron James<\/a>\u00a0is mentally at this stage of his career while speaking on the Off Guard podcast. After more than two decades at the center of the basketball universe, Rivers believes the grind that once defined LeBron\u2019s life no longer holds the same weight.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been doing it for so long at this point, I think he\u2019s checked out,\u201d Rivers said<\/a>. \u201cIn terms of him being Mr. Basketball all the time and looking at every single player\u2026 he\u2019s been doing this forever. Since 15, 16 years old he\u2019s been the face of basketball and then it continued to just go. At this point he\u2019s making it clear like \u2018I don\u2019t want to play on Christmas\u2019 and \u2018I\u2019m not looking at Keyonte George highlights anymore, man\u2019 and \u2018I\u2019m working on my golf swing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

James has always taken pride in being a cerebral player, often crediting his longevity to his heightened awareness and basketball IQ.<\/p>\n

Rivers\u2019 comments, however, align with a growing sense around the league that LeBron is slowly transitioning toward the end. While he continues to perform at a high level, the obsessive, all-consuming version of LeBron appears to be fading<\/a>, replaced by someone more selective with his energy and priorities.<\/p>\n

That shift has already shown up publicly. Just recently, LeBron openly pushed back on playing Christmas Day games, suggesting he would rather be at home with family<\/a>. He has also leaned into golf more than ever, even joking about it in interviews. Arguably the most damning evidence occurred on the court in front of the entire basketball world.<\/p>\n

Earlier this season, a viral clip captured him engaged in a casual courtside conversation during a pivotal moment of the game<\/a>. It was a scene that would have been unthinkable earlier in his career and is arguably the biggest sign of his slipping focus.<\/p>\n

So, despite averaging 20.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game on 48.1 percent shooting this season (31.0 percent from three), retirement is no longer a distant thought for James. At 40 years old, the end is now at the forefront of his mind, though there remains the possibility of opting into one final season to embrace a full farewell tour on his own terms.<\/p>\n

Whatever James decides, it is obvious he has never been closer to the end. While he is still dedicated to winning, he appears checked out in a way we have never seen before. Now, he is thinking about life beyond the game, and things may never be the same again.<\/p>\n

Whether this truly is the beginning of the end or simply a natural evolution, LeBron James is clearly in a different phase of his career. The urgency that once defined every possession has softened, replaced by perspective earned over two decades at the top. However long he chooses to play, the shift is unmistakable, and the league is slowly coming to terms with a reality where LeBron\u2019s finish line is finally in view.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Austin Rivers offered a blunt assessment of where LeBron James\u00a0is mentally at this stage of his career while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-370257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}