Lakers News: Title-Winning LA Guard Predicts LeBron James' Retirement Timeline
After getting swept out of the Western Conference Finals by the Denver Nuggets, All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James suggested he might retire this summer, following his 20th season in the league, before ultimately walking the statement back later in the offseason.
While playing on a bum foot, the 19-time All-Star noticeably ran out of gas in multiple fourth quarters throughout LA's postseason run last spring, though he remained relatively production, on both sides of the ball, prior to some late-game sloppiness. All told, the 6'8" swingman averaged 24.5 points on 49.8% shooting from the floor, 9.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals a night.
With James now back in the fold for 2023-24, and possessing a player option for 2024-25, the question now becomes: just how long is the four-time league MVP going to keep at it?
Three-time Lakers champ Byron Scott appeared on Scoop B Selects with host Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson to delve into that very question (and many others).
"I didn’t! I think that LeBron still has a year or two left in him and I think he wants to wait until [eldest son] Bronny gets in the NBA as well so, it’s going to be interesting in the next couple of years but when he was talking about it and hinting on it, I didn’t have a fear in the world that he was leaving this year," Scott revealed.
Bronny, a 6'3" freshman combo guard at USC, suffered a cardiac arrest in July and has since been diagnosed with a treatable congenital heart defect as the root cause. The health setback could impact just when the 18-year-old declares for the draft, as it's unclear exactly when he'll be able to suit up for the Trojans this season.
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