LeBron, Lakers booted from playoffs; fans wait to hear of his future

LeBron James wasn’t ready to make any decisions about his future in the painful moments immediately after his 22nd NBA season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round playoff exit.

“I don’t have the answer to that,” James said Wednesday night when asked how long he will continue to play. “Something I’ll sit down with my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it, and see what happens. Just have conversations with myself on how long I want to continue to play. I don’t know the answer to that right now, to be honest.”

The 40-year-old James has given no public indication he is thinking about retirement this summer, but Lakers fans will be holding their breath until the top scorer in NBA history makes his plans official.

James provided no hints after recording 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the Lakers’ 103-96 loss to Minnesota.

Most observers think the four-time champion is planning to return for a 23rd season, which would break the NBA longevity record he currently shares with Vince Carter. He is also just 49 regular-season games behind Robert Parish, who holds the NBA record with 1,611 games played. James already holds the league record for career playoff games with 292.

His seventh season with the Lakers is over after the Timberwolves’ 4-1 series victory. Los Angeles didn’t build a winning dynamic quickly enough to the midseason arrival of Luka Doncic in a seismic trade for Anthony Davis.

James’ Lakers have advanced in the postseason just once in the five years since their championship in the Florida bubble — but if James returns, he’s coming back to a completely reconfigured team built around his new partnership with Doncic.



(AP Photo Mark J. Terrill)