LeBron James turned back the clock against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but his heroics weren’t enough as the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs following their loss in Game 5.
James did everything in his power to will the Lakers to wins, but the Timberwolves were able to answer every run and keep them at bay. The same happened late in the fourth quarter of Game 5 as James played with a sense of desperation and urgency, but Minnesota executed on both ends and held on for the win.
This is a rough end to Los Angeles’ season as some considered them to be a legitimate title contender despite remaking their roster on the fly. Now that the Lakers are officially eliminated, it brings James’ future more into focus as he has repeatedly said he won’t play for much longer.
Following elimination, James remained noncommittal about playing next season and said he would take time to discuss his future with his inner circle.
“I don’t know. I don’t have the answer to that,” he said when asked about his future. “I’ll sit down with my family, my wife and my support group, and kind of just talk through it, and see what happens. Have conversations with myself on how long I want to continue to play. I don’t know the answer to that right now to be honest. We’ll see.”
This is the same sort of messaging James has used in previous seasons, so this response wasn’t very surprising. The prevailing thought is that James does return for the 2025-26 season, especially now that Luka Doncic is on the roster.
Although the Lakers came up short against the Timberwolves, the team should feel encouraged that they were able to go on the run they did after acquiring Doncic. Integrating a superstar like Doncic is no easy task, but James and the rest of the roster did well to adjust so quickly.
At the end of the day though, James views this season as a disappointment as he is only playing for championshops and the team fell way short.
“I mean, I don’t know. I mean, obviously, for me, since my first NBA Finals appearance, I think, in 2007, the moment I got an opportunity to be a part of that and taste that feeling. From there on, every season that I did not make it to the Finals or did not win a championship has been a disappointment,” James said.
“So, it’d be the same for me. It’d be the same offseason of disappointment and fulfillment. You know, have an opportunity to play longer and give yourself an opportunity to play for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. So, nothing changes for me.”
James’ decision to play next season will be the most pressing question this summer for the Lakers, but it’s hard to imagine he’ll want to retire following such a disappointing end to the year. He holds a player option for $52.6 million next season that he will need to decide if he wants to pick up, although he has plenty of time to think it over.
LeBron James credits Timberwolves for making more plays than Lakers down the stretch
LeBron James turned in some vintage performances in the series against the Timberwolves, but they ultimately weren’t enough. Part of that was how well the Timberwolves executed on both ends of the floor in crunch time and James credited them for making more plays than the Lakers.
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