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LeBron James says he’ll take time to decide whether to return for a 23rd season after his Los Angeles Lakers was dumped out of the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. “I don’t know,” LeBron said when asked how many more years he would play. “I don’t have the answer to that.
(It’s) something I sit down with my family, my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it and see what happens and just have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play.” LeBron, who turned 40 on December 30, averaged 24.4 points, 7.
8 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game in a season that featured a new set of milestones, but not a fifth title to go with the two he won with Miami in 2012 and 2013, the one he won with hometown team Cleveland in 2016 and his 2020 crown with the Lakers. Already the league’s leading scorer of all time, LeBron became the first player to amass 50,000 career points in March.
50K CAREER POINTS for the #ScoringKing in the regular season and playoffs combined! Congrats, LeBron 👑 pic.twitter.com/jseDpQwucc He joined NBA icon Michael Jordan as the only players to score 40 points at the age of 40 wen he poured in 42 in a Lakers win over Golden State in February.
Later that month, he and the Lakers were energised by the addition of Luka Doncic, the Slovenian star who led the Dallas Mavericks to the finals last season. But LeBron said the most important first achieved this season was playing alongside son Bronny James as the first father-son duo to play together in a regular season NBA game. LeBron James (23) and Bronny James (9) in action for Los Angeles Lakers against the Minnesota Timberwolves in an NBA game.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images via AFP It was a moment LeBron had long anticipated, and became possible when the Lakers drafted Bronny last year. “Number one, for sure,” he said of playing with his son. “That’s not even close.
To be able to play the game that I love and to be able to be alongside my son, this whole year has been one of the most gratifying, satisfying journeys I’ve ever been on.” LeBron on where he ranks playing alongside Bronny among his accomplishments: "Number 1. For sure, that's easy.
" pic.twitter.com/h3fh8CAqS3 Bronny played much of the season in the developmental G League, but LeBron said watching him grow from Summer League, through the pre-season and G League competition and in his brief stints with the Lakers made him “super proud”.
LeBron also praised the development of first-year coach J. J. Redick, noting that rookie coaches in the NBA face a tough road but that it was “a hell of a lot harder being a rookie head coach coaching the Lakers.
” “I thought he handled it extremely well,” LeBron said. LeBron said when Doncic arrived in February that he was energised by the arrival of a “generational talent” but as he looked back he wasn’t sure there was enough time “to mesh”. Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic (77) and LeBron James (23) celebrate in an NBA game against the Dallas Mavericks.
| Photo Credit: AP “Ultimately having a guy like that is very dynamic for any franchise,” LeBron said, but he wasn’t ready to be drawn on how the Lakers can improve around Doncic and, perhaps, himself. “It’s a business, so you don’t know what the roster will look like next year..
. I don’t know where I stand right now,” he said. Comments Related Topics LeBron James / NBA / Los Angeles Lakers / Bronny James / Luka Doncic Latest on Sportstar.
