Going back to last offseason, LeBron James’ time with the Los Angeles Lakers seemed to be coming to an end. They did not offer him another year on his contract, and he and his agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports made it clear that the 41-year-old want to end his career competing for championships and weren’t sure if that opportunity would arise in L.A.
But thanks to a 15-2 month of March, the Lakers morale shifted dramatically as they looked ready to make noise in the postseason. Now with James leading the way in a first-round series against the Houston Rockets, Paul made a case as to why the Lakers need to re-sign his client and keeping him around the organization as long as possible.
“I will say this, Max. When you have a player like LeBron James, on and off the court, etc., you keep that guy a part of your organization,” Paul said on his Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman. “The Lakers should be delighted that he played there, number 1. Also, they should be doing everything they can to make sure he’s a part of that organization going forward because guess what? You won’t find another.”
James was injured to begin the season and he sacrificed a lot of offensive responsibility to accommodate Luke Doncic and Austin Reaves after returning. With both of them now injured though, James has shown he can still be a first option at times and clearly still has a lot left in the tank.
Given James’ play in the postseason and how the Lakers came together in March, the door is definitely open for him to return for another season. He has learned how to play effectively alongside Doncic and Reaves, who could also take a lot off his plate if the 41-year-old returns for a 24th NBA season.
LeBron James discusses how he is able to conserve energy for crunch time
For James to try and will his team against a physical Rockets team takes a toll. In a lot of these games, James has clearly exhausted a lot of his energy on both sides of the floor.
With how physically demanding this series has been, the all-time leading scorer spoke to how he can conserve energy in preparation for showing up in crunch time when his team needs him the most. What James is doing at his age is unprecedented, and it appears his agent thinks he can keep it up for at least one more year.
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