Lakers News: Reporter Believes A 2024 LA Free Agent Could Haunt Team This Year

This isn't going away anytime soon...

After the Lakers were defeated in the Western Conference Finals last season, star LeBron James made some interesting comments about his possible retirement. It was seen mainly as him being frustrated with the way the season ended, and many didn’t believe it to be true.

Over the summer, it was debated back and forth about what James was actually going to do. But at long last, he broke his silence and announced that he would indeed be returning for his 21st NBA season.

However, just because James shied away from the retirement talk for now, doesn’t mean that it won’t come back up throughout the year. Especially if the Lakers get off to a slow start this season.

NBA writer Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report put together a list of NBA storylines that will be a constant throughout this coming season. The narrative of whether James will retire or not after the season was one of them.

“Ultimately, he decided to continue at least through 2023-24, but will that reignite his passion for the game, or will he opt out of his final season with the team at $51.4 million? That's a crazy amount of money to walk away from, but that may or may not be his motivating factor. James has long voiced that he'll play until his heart and head aren't in the game, and then he'll walk away. However, that was the first time he voiced that the time was nearing.”

Per Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report

James can opt out of his contract with the Lakers after the year, and then make up his mind for the future. The likeliest of scenarios is that he either stays with LA or goes to whatever team drafts his son Bronny next season. He is still playing at a high level and wants to keep playing for now.

He has talked at length about his desire to play alongside his son in the NBA, and next year will be the time for it to possibly happen. But the talk of his retirement will likely dominate headlines all year long.

“Now, if James can win a second title with the Lakers and his fifth overall, he'll have an even stronger GOAT case. Would that push James to continue or walk away on top?”

Per Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report

This isn’t a story that is going away and it will only get louder as the year goes on. LA will have to navigate through this, as they go for their 18th title in league history.

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