LeBron James put up a career-high in 3-pointers on Sunday night against the Nets, and then revealed that he doesn’t “have much time left” in the NBA.
James is in his 21st season, and there’s been plenty of speculation about how much longer the superstar could have left in the league.
But the comments after a 116-104 Lakers win over the Nets could be a sign that the end is closer than people think.
“Not very long. I’m on the other side of the hill,” James responded when asked about his time left in the NBA. “I’m not going to play another 21 years. That’s for damn sure. Not very long. I don’t know when that door will close as far as when I retire, but I don’t have much time left.”
James turned 39 in December and still has a $54.1 million player option on his contract for the 2024-25 season.
The Lakers star posted his third 40-point game of the season with his effort at Barclays Center, and he had been averaging 25.2 points per game, along with 7.3 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 53 percent shooting from the field.
After the player option — which has a June 29 deadline per Spotrac — James would be an unrestricted free agent.
His future in the NBA has also been clouded by what his son Bronny James will do in regards to his own future.
Bronny James finished his freshman year at USC, and James has expressed a desire to play with his son in the NBA, though those comments had originally been made before Bronny’s health scare last summer when he suffered cardiac arrest during a Trojans workout.
Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told ESPN in early March that Bronny would enter the 2024 NBA Draft based on which teams would be interested in him rather than where he would be selected.