“I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for that. It’s something I need to sit down and talk about with my family, my wife, my support group… Have a conversation with myself about how much longer I want to keep playing,” said LeBron James when responding to the now customary ‘retirement question’ after the end of each Lakers season. Just one more regular season, and LeBron James will become the player with the longest-serving NBA career of all time. A career filled with championship wins, record-setting All-Star appearances, and top ranks on the All-Time Scoring lists. In light of this, one has to ask, what else is there to achieve? Is LeBron continuing to play to add another record to his legacy? If it’s the latter, then LeBron is certainly not playing according to the advice his agent gave him years ago.

Rich Paul was the guest on the recent episode of NBA Insider Chris Haynes’s ‘Haynes Briefs’ podcast. Given that the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs less than a week ago, and Paul has been on LeBron James’ payroll since 2003, the question of the player’s retirement had to be brought up. Sure enough, Haynes soon discussed LeBron’s comments about “talk about with my family, my wife, my support group”. Paul rolled his eyes at this and replied, “He’s been saying the same thing for 15 years”. That might be the case, but for Haynes, that time has become real over the last 3 years. Paul agreed with that point, since the 4x NBA champion is not getting any younger. However, this was also the reason why Paul made it clear LeBron should not take basketball that seriously now.

“Listen, when he decided to leave Cleveland in 2018, and come out to LA, you know the thing I told him was ‘you know, you have to start enjoying your time. You just have to, you know, you have to start really allowing yourself to enjoy your time that, you know, you give this game everything’” said the 44-year-old agent. “I think it’s important for the young people that come in that locker room to experience, whether it’s a year, or 10 day(s), or three years, their experience with LeBron James should be one that they never forget. Um, that they can tell their kids and their grandkids about. Uh, and you don’t owe anybody anything. You don’t, you know. There’s nothing else for you to actually accomplish, um, as a basketball player. That was before the championship in 2020. Um, but you should enjoy it”.

LeBron James has certainly enjoyed his time since becoming a Laker. He became the NBA’s All-Time Scorer, won a championship, and got to play alongside star players like Anthony Davis, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, etc. However, when playing for an NBA team, fans do not necessarily want their players to have ‘fun’. They want them to aim towards the Larry O’Brien trophy. While LeBron James has earned enough in his career, fans are always waiting, wanting the big accolade to return to the team again. The Lakers haven’t won a championship since 2020, and, thanks to their recent elimination, the squad won’t win it this year either. Therefore, if LeBron James is just bidding his time with the new team, then that fact, and Rich Paul’s recent comments, aren’t something they would welcome with open arms.

Lakers fans are already getting impatient with the lack of uncertainty about the championship. Now, LeBron James not being clear about his retirement is adding to the dilemma. Comments like “he cares more about the money than the game itself now”, and “For the Good of the game LeBron James should announce his retirement” have already started filling up X. Amidst this uncertainty, one individual has looked at the player’s past actions, and determined a potential timeline for King James’ exit.

NBA insider connects LeBron James’ retirement to Bryce James’ potential NBA draft

“My last year will be played with my son. Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year”. By making this declaration in an interview with ‘The Athletic’ back in 2022, LeBron James set out to achieve another unique feat. He wanted to become part of the first father-son duo to play in the NBA at the same time, and together. Despite concerns raised over Bronny James’ health issues due to his cardiac arrest, and his low average score during his USC tenure, the player was eventually declared the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

As the image of James and James Jr. on the same NBA court became a prominent part of NBA history, many thought this would be it. LeBron James promised that he would announce his retirement soon. When he didn’t, this led one NBA insider to consider that LeBron may play his last year with his son, but also include his other son as well.

In a recent discussion with Pat McAfee, ESPN’s Shams Charania said, “If he [LeBron] feels that, at some point next year, Bryce James might be an NBA player, might be a draft-eligible player, does he extend that window? I think that’s the only potential caveat out there that could keep LeBron James even longer than at least one more year.”

Bryce James, who is currently committed to the Arizona Wildcats, has not been too optimistic that he will get the chance to play with his father. After all, as he once revealed during an Instagram Live session, “I’m not gonna lie, that’s OD. Waiting until I — nah, that’s too much. That’s too much, no. No, Good lord. He’s going to be 42, bro”. Despite this, LeBron James himself has teased wanting to play the final season with Bryce.

Back in 2023, LeBron James was featured in a ‘Beats by Dre’ commercial, with a voiceover by his wife, Savannah. Savannah referenced the high external expectations placed upon her superstar family members. At the end of it, she narrates, “The pressure doesn’t break you, it feeds you. I mean, after 21 years in, you just get stronger. … Tell them you’re not done until you play with your son. Then do that again”. At the ‘do that again’ part, the clip switched from Bronny to Bryce. Woah! Fans might end up looking at that clip 3-4 years from now and say “Foreshadowing”.

While no one wants to see LeBron James retire, it is an inevitable truth. Then again, it is only up to the player to give a definite timeline. Till then, all one can do is speculate.