After the Los Angeles Lakers were knocked out of the first round of this year’s NBA playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves, LeBron James was asked how much longer he will play in the league. He said he didn’t have an answer and that he would discuss his basketball future with his family and himself.
But even though he did poorly in a couple of fourth quarters in that series, he put up his usual big numbers throughout the season. During the regular season, he averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds a game while shooting 51.3% from the field and 37.6% from 3-point range, and he didn’t show any real signs of slowing down.
Former NBA player Al Harrington said on a recent episode of the “Sloane Knows” podcast that he feels James has a lot left in the tank, but that the future Hall of Famer won’t play much longer.
“Honestly, I personally think that he could play five more years if he wanted to because he takes care of himself,” Harrington said on the Sloane Knows podcast. “He has the body that can do it, but I personally think this is his last year coming up.”
Just because a great athlete can continue to play at a high level for a few more years doesn’t automatically mean he will stick around. That is especially true for someone such as James, who has a lot going on off the court, including many business deals and media projects.
He has a player option for next season, and if he wants to stick around, he can either play out his contract or opt out and sign a slightly longer deal.
Harrington mentioned that when James does decide to call it quits, he will want to have a retirement tour and get a ton of adulation from fans. That alone likely means people will get to see him play at least one more season in the NBA.
