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The billion-dollar question that everyone is asking is whether or not LeBron James will retire from basketball.
Has the 41-year-old James played his last basketball game in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform? Has he played his last basketball game ever?
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James and the Lakers were eliminated from the 2026 NBA playoffs in the Western conference semifinals by the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, four games to none. Immediately following the game, James provided some insight to reporters regarding the decision on his next chapter.
The short answer: nobody knows, not even James himself.
“I don’t know. It’s obviously still fresh from losing, you know, I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know what the future holds for me,” James said on May 11 after the Lakers were swept by the Thunder. “Obviously, as it stands right now, tonight, I got a lot of time. I’ll sit back, like I think I said last year, after we lost, I think to Minnesota there, go back and recalibrate with my family and talk with them and spend some time with them, and then when the time comes, obviously, you guys will know what I decide to do.”
James is a four-time NBA champion and Finals MVP who has broken a number of NBA records — most seasons played (23), most games played (1,622), most career points scored in the regular season (43,440) and playoffs (8,521), most All-Star appearances (22), among many others.
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His longest consecutive stint with one team has come with the Lakers, having finished his eighth season in Los Angeles. He arrived in LA as a free agent in 2018. His goal was to bring the Lakers back to relevancy, he told reporters.
Since James became a Laker, they have been among the league’s better teams, winning an NBA championship in 2020 with another conference finals appearance in 2023. They’ve made the playoffs in all but two seasons.
During the 2025-26 season, James took on a role he’s never played in his life: the third option behind the Lakers’ backcourt of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
James proved that he could be dominant in any position he was placed in. He still averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lebron-james-retiring-heres-could-023628560.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-13 02:36:00
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