Lakers News: Will LeBron James Retire With Bronny Possibly One Year Away From NBA?

Time will tell.

Los Angeles Lakers All-NBA small forward LeBron James rattled the basketball world last night when, upon being eliminated from playoff contention by the Denver Nuggets in a 113-111 Game 4 loss, he floated the possibility that he might retire from the NBA before next season. 

This feels somewhat like a media ploy, tearing attention away from the Nuggets' dominant run through the West (Denver is currently 12-4 in the playoffs and has yet to drop a game at home) and even yesterday's Carmelo Anthony retirement news. despite a $46.1 million guaranteed contract waiting for him.

James has proven all he needs to prove, having played at an All-NBA and All-Star level across 19 of his 20 pro seasons. He's won four titles and four MVP awards and is generally considered the best player of his generation and one of the five best of all time. But after a 40-point, 10-rebound, nine-assist nine in which he played all but four seconds while losing to probably the best team in the league, it certainly seems like he has more to give from a basketball perspective.

The other question is that James has long expressed an interest in playing alongside at least his eldest son, LeBron "Bronny" James Jr., a senior at Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth.

Bronny James is currently considered to be a mid-first round draft pick whenever he wraps up his tenure down the road from his dad at the University of Southern California. At the earliest, that would happen in time for the 2024-25 season. The elder James certainly seems capable of still performing at a high level at that point, when he will be turning 40 midseason. The question is whether or not he's willing to do that -- and if that would happen in a Lakers uniform. He has a $50.7 million team option with Los Angeles for that season, which he could opt to decline so that he could ink a new deal with whichever club drafts Bronny.

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