LeBron James just finished his 22nd NBA season and seventh with the Los Angeles Lakers. At 40 years old, he played 70 games and will make another All-NBA team. James also made history by becoming the first NBA player to play with his son after sharing the court with Bronny on the Lakers.
There is no one who has been as good for as long as LeBron has been and the question remains just how much longer can he continue to play. James’ longtime agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports recently appeared on the “Rich Eisen Show” and admitted even has no clue when the Lakers superstar will call it a career:
“I have no idea. Zero…. Normally, our process is you kind of weigh everything and see how he’s feeling and all those type of things. Same process it’s been for the last I don’t know how many years. He’ll come around to what he’s thinking at some point and we’ll kind of go over some things and go from there.”
Paul would continue on about the subject, adding that he believes it is the mental aspect that will be the determining factor in how much longer LeBron plays more than the physical:
“I always get asked this question. Physically, he can play several more years. I don’t think it’s the physical aspect of it. I think it’s where you’re at mentally. With all these guys, I think we put so much on the individual. There’s a lot of layers to success as an individual. And I think when you think about him per se, there’s a lot of decisions that have to be made. You know, going into a locker room, what the roster looks like, what the approach of each player is. He’s always going to get everybody’s best shot and so is the team he’s on with the history of the team.”
Paul hit the nail on the head in terms of how the mental plays such a huge role in these decisions. Plenty of retired players have spoken about how it isn’t about being able to still play the game itself, but the will to continue to go through everything that it takes to perform and recover after the fact.
Players have to be locked in at another level, especially someone like James with his physical stature and the work he puts in on a daily basis. To commit to doing these things every day for an entire season is a lot, and when LeBron feels like he no longer wants to do it, that will be the day he hangs it up for good.
Lakers’ LeBron James gives update on recovery from knee injury
If LeBron James does return to the Lakers for another season he will first need to recover from the knee injury he suffered in the final game of the season. But things are going well so far as LeBron revealed that his knee is healing quickly, though he is struggling having to sit around way more than he is used to.
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