Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has shown few signs of slowing down, even in his 21st NBA season, but he can feel the end drawing near.
James spoke about his looming retirement following a 40-point performance against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, March 21.
“Not very long. Not very long,” James said about how much longer he will play, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I’m on the other side obviously of the hill, so, I’m not gonna play another 21 years, that’s for damn sure. But not very long. I don’t know when that door will close as far as … when I’ll retire, but I don’t have much time left.”
For a player without “much time left,” as James described himself, the game he put together against the Nets was both historical and astonishing.
With his 40 points, James joined Michael Jordan as the only two players to score that much on multiple occasions after turning 39 years old. James has now done so twice, while Jordan accomplished the feat three times. Jordan played his final season at the age of 40, while James will turn 40 years old in December during what will be his 22nd NBA campaign in the 2024-25 season, assuming he doesn’t retire before then.
On top of dropping 40 points at 39 years of age, James did so by netting nine 3-pointers on 10 attempts. He talked to McMenamin and other reporters following the game about that performance.
The Lakers trailed the Phoenix Suns (seed No. 7) by two games and the Sacramento Kings (seed No. 8) by 1.5 games heading into Monday night, and held a 1.5-game lead over the 10th-seeded Golden State Warriors.
Los Angeles will continue its current six-game road trip on Tuesday night against the Toronto Raptors before finishing it off Wednesday night against the Washington Wizards. The Lakers are 3-1 over their last four, including a double-overtime victory against the Milwaukee Bucks without James on the floor.
