Spanning three decades, James\u2019 dazzling resume includes four NBA championships, a slew of records, and a place atop the league\u2019s all-time scoring list \u2013 a milestone many believe may never be surpassed.<\/p>\n
For now, though, James is giving nothing away, declining to offer any hint as to when \u2013 or how \u2013 he might bring the curtain down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what the future holds,\u201d James told reporters when asked about possible retirement following the Lakers\u2019 129-99 drubbing by his former team.<\/p>\n
James acknowledged, though, that while he has not made a decision about his future, Wednesday\u2019s (local time) game could possibly have been his final appearance in Cleveland.<\/p>\n
Farewell tour?<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t made a decision on the future but it very well could be,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n
LeBron James, 41, has not decided on his future but acknowledged it could be his last Cleveland appearance. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Yet James, who is currently averaging an impressive 22 points per game in what is his record-breaking 23rd season in the league, balked at the idea that the closing months of the campaign may amount to a \u201cfarewell tour\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have not even thought to the point of a farewell tour or whatever the case may be, because I haven\u2019t had that conversation with myself and my family on, when is it over?\u201d James said. \u201cThat will come after that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the current season got underway, James had declared himself energised by the prospect of playing alongside Luka Doncic, the 26-year-old Slovenian superstar the Lakers acquired last year in a blockbuster trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe motivation to play alongside him every night, that\u2019s super motivating,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n
Doncic\u2019s arrival clearly signalled that the Lakers no longer see James as the central pillar of their long-term team-building.<\/p>\n
James will be a free agent at the end of the season and if he extends his stay in Los Angeles, is likely to be asked to take a pay cut, NBA analysts believe.<\/p>\n
Alternatively, James might seek to crown his career elsewhere \u2013 with a possible third stint in Cleveland, or even a long-rumoured partnership alongside his close friend and USA teammate Stephen Curry at the Golden State Warriors.<\/p>\n
\u2018Big decisions\u2019<\/p>\n
LeBron James admits this emotional return to Cleveland may have been his last there. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cLeBron has two big decisions to make when the season is over, whenever that is for the Lakers,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Brian Windhorst said. \u201cOne is, is he going to play another season? And he\u2019s made it very clear, he doesn\u2019t seem to know, and I believe that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second thing is, if he\u2019s going to play another season, how much money is he willing to play for? Because the Lakers almost certainly are going to ask him to take a pay cut, potentially a significant one.\u201d<\/p>\n
NBA legend Shaquille O\u2019Neal believes there is every possibility James may choose to extend his career, at least for one more season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think he knows,\u201d O\u2019Neal said. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s fair to say three more years from now, no. Two more years, maybe. But one more year \u2013 definitely.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neal said when James does finally decide to call time on his reign, there will be little ambiguity.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeBron\u2019s very calculated at, you know, things he does,\u201d O\u2019Neal said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the whole world will know when it\u2019s his last year because him and his team, they probably want the farewell LeBron tour,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neal\u2019s fellow analyst on ESPN\u2019s Inside the NBA, Kenny Smith, said the fact that James is continuing to perform at the highest level \u2013 and is also playing with eldest son Bronny \u2013 will persuade him to extend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t think his retirement is imminent here,\u201d Smith said. \u201cOnly because, you know, he\u2019s super productive still at this stage in his career. And he\u2019s getting an opportunity to play with his son. That\u2019s a unique situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo all of the things that point to one more year are happening. His production, his playing time, lack of injury, his son \u2013 all those things point to, \u2018I\u2019m still playing\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
-Agence-France Presse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spanning three decades, James\u2019 dazzling resume includes four NBA championships, a slew of records, and a place atop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[149345,46794,51125,9218,11164,4101,149344,14154,14054,9860,52041,52038,3223,149347,40340,149346,111,139,69,34592,105580,294,213,149343,11227,73172,149348,24806],"class_list":["post-259902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-anew","tag-angeles","tag-barely","tag-before","tag-began","tag-debate","tag-dried","tag-give","tag-james","tag-king","tag-lakers","tag-lebron","tag-legend","tag-monarch","tag-nba","tag-nbas","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ready","tag-reigning","tag-retirement","tag-sports","tag-stoke","tag-talk","tag-tears","tag-throne","tag-uniform"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}