Shortly after the Los Angeles Lakers got swept by the Denver Nuggets, LeBron James wasted no time stealing the headlines as he publicly contemplated retiring.
James’ comments caught everyone by surprise, including his teammates and members of the organization because he has been open about wanting to play with his son Bronny James. The King also signed an extension this past summer, a sign that he was ready to commit to playing for Los Angeles for at least next season.
Since then, rumors have popped up that James is indeed going to return for Year 21 though anything can happen in the next few weeks. As shocking as it would be to see James actually retire, players like Dennis Schroder aren’t quite buying it.
“I didn’t even see it yet, but I can’t see that,” Schroder said at his exit interview. “I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe it’s personal whatever, but to retire and the last game in the playoffs you make 40, 10 and nine I think you still got juice to play a couple more years. So whatever he decides, he played for 20 years, we gonna support him, I’m gonna support him and hopefully he’s gonna come back.”
Schroder has a valid point as James looked about as good as he has all postseason in the deciding Game 4 against the Nuggets when he played all 48 minutes. It’s hard to imagine that James would want to end his career on a loss like that, but he’s certainly well within his rights to make whatever decision makes the most sense to him.
With the Lakers looking as good as they did toward the second half of the season, the smart bet would be that James returns in 2023-24 as the current roster looks like a couple tweaks away at being a championship favorite. Los Angeles was already halfway toward a title, so if the front office can find upgrades and the rest of the roster builds on the momentum from this past year then there’s no reason why the purple and gold can’t replicate their success.
LeBron James expected to be ready for training camp if he undergoes foot surgery
James was clearly not himself during the playoffs and it was later revealed that he was playing through a torn tendon in his foot. James will have to decide if he wants to undergo surgery to fix in the injury but if he does the expectation is he’ll be ready for training camp.
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