LeBron James wants to spend the twilight of his Hall of Fame
LeBron James does not want to spend the final years of his Hall of Fame career going through the motions on a losing club.
In the most open remarks he has made during yet another disappointing season, the Los Angeles Lakers star stated Wednesday that he feels he can still contribute to a top-tier club and that he wants to return to a winning environment.
“I think about the day-to-day about how we get better through the course of this season, how we get better from game to game,” Lebron James said after a 112-98 road loss to the Miami Heat. “I think about how much longer I’m going to play the game. I think about how I don’t want to finish my career playing at this level from a team aspect. I want to still be able to compete for championships because I know what I can still bring to any ballclub with the right pieces.”
With the loss to the Heat, the Lakers slipped to 14-21, falling 312 games behind the final berth in the Western Conference’s play-in round. After missing the playoffs last season, Los Angeles currently sits in the West’s 13th playoff slot, 812 games behind the top-seeded New Orleans Pelicans.
Since losing all-star centre Anthony Davis to a foot injury, the Lakers are 2-5, including a Christmas Day blowout defeat to the Dallas Mavericks in which LebronJames outscored his four teammates, all of whom were acquired in the summer.
Perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence that James, who turns 38 on Friday, was thinking about championships while playing in Miami, where he won two of his four titles and appeared in four straight Finals from 2011 to 2014. After all, James hinted at a return to the Cavaliers at All-Star Weekend in Cleveland in February, applauding the team’s young core and noting that the “door’s not closed” on him returning to Ohio for a third term.
Rather than maximising his flexibility this summer, James inked a two-year, $97 million contract extension with the Lakers in August. The new deal goes through the 2023-24 season, with a player option for 2024-25. While his game has slowed, James remains one of the NBA’s best players, as he approaches Kareem Abdul–all–time Jabbar’s scoring record, averaging 27.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 6.6 assists this season.
The four-time MVP remarked on Wednesday that he “[doesn’t] have a figure” in mind for how long he wants to play before retiring, and he has long voiced a desire to play in the NBA alongside his 18-year-old son, Bronny, who will be draught eligible in 2024. However, James is in danger of missing the playoffs for the second year in a row, something he hasn’t done since his first two years in the NBA.
“As long as my mind stays in it, I can play at this level for a minute,” said James, who is on track for his 19th all-star selection. “It’s up to my mind. My body is going to be okay. If my mind is into it, I’ll make sure my body is taken care of. I’ll continue to put in the work.”
In September, Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka stated that the team was eager to “do all we can, picks included, to make transactions that give us a chance to assist LeBron” win another championship. Following a loss to the Golden State Warriors on opening night, James stated,
“To be absolutely honest, we’re not a team that’s composed of terrific shooting,” and the roster’s myriad deficiencies have only been accentuated with Davis’ absence. Despite this, the Lakers have yet to execute a trade this season to obtain the required athleticism, size, and wing depth to compete with the best in the NBA.
As the trade deadline approaches on Feb. 9, all eyes will be on the Lakers, who have a pair of future first-round selections that they might utilise to address their short-term problems by upgrading James’ supporting cast. With Davis out indefinitely, there’s a compelling case to wait until the summer, when Russell Westbrook’s $47 million contract expires, allowing the Lakers greater flexibility to pursue higher-level trade targets and free agents.
The patient approach may be in the best interests of the club in the long run, but it would be difficult to sell to James, who led the Lakers to their fourth title in 2020 before failing to win a series in 2021 and placing 11th in the West last season.
The Lakers are on pace to go 33-49 this season, which would be the worst record in James’ 20-year career. In instance, during Michael Jordan’s final season, the Washington Wizards won 37 games in 2001-2002 and 2002-03.
“I’m a winner and I want to win,” James said. “I want to win and give myself a chance to win and still compete for championships. That’s always been my passion since I entered the league as an 18-year-old kid out of Akron, Ohio. I know it takes steps to get there. But once you get there and you know how to get there, playing basketball at this level just to be playing basketball is not in my DNA. It’s not in my DNA anymore.”