LeBron James makes most of his money from “off-the-court” activities. He’ll have a lot more time to focus on those activities now because he and his Lakers got swept out of the playoffs on Monday night.
And at the age of 38, he might just decide to stay off the court once and for all and retire.
James put up 40 points and snagged 10 rebounds in Game 4, but missed two potential game-tying shots in the closing minute as the Lakers faded and lost 113-111. following the game, James gave the strongest indicator he’s ever given that he is seriously contemplating retirement.
“We’ll see what happens going forward,” James said in his postgame news conference. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ve got a lot to think about, to be honest. Just for me personally going forward with the game of basketball, I’ve got a lot to think about.”
According to the Associated Press, “James is under contract for $46.9 million next season with the Lakers, but he is in charge of his future after surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career scoring record earlier this year. He hasn’t previously suggested much personal conflict about finishing his contract alongside Anthony Davis, and his play hasn’t significantly declined after two decades in the NBA — although his health has grown less sturdy, particularly in his balky feet and ankles.”
Of course, James is flush with cash from his business dealings with Communist China. The Lakers superstar made $75 million of his $119.5 million this year from his businesses “off the court.” for James, “off the court” mostly means Nike, and Nike means Chinese slave labor. In addition, LeBron’s son, Bronny, recently committed to USC and there’s a chance he will want to be more available to his son.
Conversely, if his son only plays a year at USC, there’s a chance LeBron would want to play with or against his son, and he might not retire.
Twitter had fun with the Lakers’ demise.
LeBum stuffed on the final play.
Lakers swept in 4. Awesome. pic.twitter.com/rS6W9RYFnx
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) May 23, 2023
Michael Jordan when someone tries to say LeBron still the GOAT after being swept by the Nuggets#Lakers #Nuggets pic.twitter.com/uK7mGhdH51
— J_1neofakindnoocap (@1_ofakindnocap) May 23, 2023
Bron after the Lakers got swept: pic.twitter.com/BpzWut9BiM
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 23, 2023
Lakers got swept? That’s a shame… pic.twitter.com/DUOxnpNdLN
— Sourdeath Sam (@SourdeathSam) May 23, 2023
“I don’t like to say it’s a successful year, because I don’t play for anything besides winning championships at this point in my career,” James told reporters after the game. “You know, I don’t get a kick out of making a conference (finals) appearance. I’ve done it a lot, and it’s not fun to me to not be able to be a part of getting to the (NBA) Finals.”
James continued, “I guess I’ll reflect on my career when I’m done, but I don’t know. The only thing I concern myself with is being available to my teammates, and I don’t like the fact that I didn’t play as many games as I would have liked because of injury. That’s the only thing I care about, is being available to my teammates.”
After a 4-0 sweep, James has lots of availability on his hands.