NBA superstar LeBron James on Wednesday said he would take time to decide whether to return for a 23rd season after his Los Angeles Lakers were dumped out of the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“I don’t know,” James said when asked how many more years he would play. “I don’t have the answer to that. Something I’ll sit down with my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it, and see what happens. Just have conversations with myself on how long I want to continue to play.”
James provided no hints after recording 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the Lakers’ 103-96 loss to Minnesota.
Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / USA Today
“It’s up to me if I’m going to continue to play, or how long I’m going to continue to play,” he said. “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 1,611 games played. James already holds the league record for career playoff games with 292.
James, who turned 40 on Dec. 30 last year, averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game in a season that featured a new set of milestones, but not a fifth title to go with the two he won with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013, the one he won with his hometown team the Cleveland Cavalier in 2016 and his 2020 crown with the Lakers.
Already the league’s all-time leader scorer, in March James became the first player to amass 50,000 career points.
He joined NBA icon Michael Jordan as the only players to score 40 points at the age of 40 when he poured in 42 in a Lakers win over the Golden State Warriors in February.
Later that month, he and the Lakers were energized by the addition of Luka Doncic, the Slovenian star who led the Dallas Mavericks to the finals last season.
However, the most important first achieved this season was playing alongside son Bronny James as the first father-son duo to play together in a regular-season NBA game, he said.
It was a moment LeBron James had long anticipated, and became possible when the Lakers drafted his son last year.
“No. 1, for sure,” he said of playing with his son. “That’s not even close. To be able to play the game that I love and to be able to be alongside my son, this whole year has been one of the most gratifying, satisfying journeys I’ve ever been on.”
In Wednesday’s other playoff game, the Houston Rockets kept their series against Golden State alive with a 131-116 thrashing of the Warriors, narrowing the gap in their Western Conference series to 3-2.
Additional reporting by AP
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