Only minutes after being eliminated by the reigning champions on Monday, LeBron James was already being haunted by the press who suggested he had played his last game with the Lakers. The superstar immediately told the media that he just wanted to spend time with his family and make a decision in the coming months.
However, this didn’t stop the tsunami of rumors surrounding his future, and he decided to put the speculations to rest before the waves got too big. The veteran took his thoughts to social media to set things straight.
“I’ve seen, heard a lot of reports about my future,” he wrote on X. “I said it last night and I’ll say it again. I do not know yet as I’m only thinking about spending time with my family & friends! When I know after speaking with the fam, my counsel as well as my representation about it then you guys will know.”
LeBron James says he doesn’t know his plans for his NBA future. He is currently focused on his family and then after that, USA Basketball training camp. pic.twitter.com/ChWItauvyh
— Hoops (@HoopMixOnly) April 30, 2024
Even though the all-time NBA scorer has expressed many times in the past his desire to play alongside his son Bronny before his retirement, insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported this Tuesday that this isn’t a priority for the superstar anymore.
“Rich Paul’s goal here in the pre-draft process for Bronny James is to see if there’s the right developmental system or organization, a place that can take a young player like Bronny James, who went five months without playing after his heart episode certainly limited him in his season at USC,” he said. “If he does go in the draft, he very likely would spend next year in the G League.”
The ESPN reporter believes that they would only pursue this scenario if it would happen organically. “I think what LeBron James, Bronny James and Rich Paul said was, if organically somehow they ended up together, that would be great,” Woj assured.
“But you look at the Lakers’ draft assets, No. 17, that’s a really important pick for the Lakers probably to use in a big trade. You’re not gonna use it on Bronny James at 17. And then they have No. 55. He could very well be gone by then.”
The Los Angeles front office believes that LeBron and AD can still lead this squad to another title
After this Monday’s elimination from the playoffs, yet again at the hands of the Denver team, the Anthony Davis was asked if he would recruit his co-star to remain in California for his final years as a professional. “Absolutely, I feel like we complement each other, we have done something special together,” said the Lakers starting big man.
“Good thing about it, I’m going to be with him all summer, so have a lot of conversations and things like that. He know how I feel about him… If he kind of asks my opinion or whenever we talk about it, I’m obviously going to try to recruit him back,” he assured, as both have been selected to play in the Paris Olympics.
After they combined for 59 points in Game 3’s 112-105 loss, LeBron shared a similar sentiment to AD’s. “We know what it takes to win a championship and how damn near perfect you got to be,” he said about their partnership. “That’s not like something that’s so crazy to obtain.”
However, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin shared that a team source revealed that Darvin Ham’s coaching role is “very much in jeopardy.” “The job of a coach is to make the best out of what you have,” he expressed. “And he wasn’t doing that.”
