LeBron James is ‘possibly’ retiring? This might get enjoyable and messy

Of all of the reams of phrases publicly spilled at Lakers media day Monday, just one actually mattered.

When LeBron James was wrapping up his interview with the oldsters at Spectrum Sportsnet, host Chris McGee requested, “By the way, see you at next year’s media day?”

James’ laughing reply set the template for a season.

“Maybe.”

So the Lakers ought to deal with the following eight months emptying their belongings and foregoing their future and enjoying with the desperation of a workforce making an attempt to earn one final piece of jewellery for arguably the best participant ever?

Maybe.

So ought to the followers right here and across the league present up in droves and line up across the block for his or her final stay have a look at a residing legend?

Maybe.

Or, if the whole lot goes incorrect and issues get ugly, ought to the Lakers and James willingly half methods by way of a midseason buyout?

Maybe.

No matter what occurs, the truth that James didn’t reveal his intentions in his first public look since final spring implies that this Laker season has the possibility to be a murky possibly mess.

Everybody is aware of the place the Lakers stand, as Rob Pelinka stated final week. He needs James to complete his profession right here.

“We would love if LeBron’s story would be he retire a Laker,” Pelinka stated. “That would be a positive story.”

But nonetheless no person is aware of the place James stands, and it’s not apparent, as a result of, whereas he’s 40 and getting into his NBA-record twenty third season, he seems to be younger, and acts energetic, and Monday on the Lakers facility he was at his charming finest.

“Just excited about the journey and whatever this year has in store for me,” he stated.

He’s most likely not saying as a result of he really doesn’t know. Next spring is a lifetime away. He doesn’t understand how he’s going to really feel. He doesn’t understand how his basketball future might look.

But as a result of he’s not saying, this season might seemingly go one in all 3 ways.

It might go the Kershaw Way. James might as soon as once more be one of many prime gamers within the league however get worn down by the pressure on his physique and within the final weeks of the season he might name it quits. The Crypto.com crowd will get an opportunity to say goodbye and his Lakers teammates can use his retirement as inspiration for a deep postseason run.

Or, it might go the Kobe Way. James might determine in the course of the season that he’s had sufficient and embark on a league-wide farewell tour, the type that after introduced the robust Kobe Bryant to tears.

Or, given the group’s latest sketchy historical past, it’s fully potential it might go the Typical Lakers Implosion Way.

James might spend the 12 months making the Lakers dangle on that “maybe,” subtly combating in opposition to the lack of his workforce management to Luka Doncic, passively aggressively chiding Pelinka to enhance the roster on the commerce deadline, even often threatening to give up on the spot.

Because it’s too robust to commerce him and the Lakers don’t need to spend the bucks to purchase him out, they spend the remainder of the season dodging his barbs, then, merely let James’ contract expire and watch him flee to house Cleveland for his swan music.

Three eventualities, however solely two completely happy endings, and to make issues much more sophisticated, a lot relies upon not on James, however on the roster round him.

Are the Lakers going to be any good? Are you prepared for it?

Maybe.

The Lakers solely performed 23 video games with each James and the not too long ago acquired Doncic final season, and so they have been 15-8 and grabbed a 3rd seed and have been appearing like the most effective workforce within the NBA at one level earlier than they disintegrated in opposition to Minnesota within the playoffs.

They added Deandre Ayton for size, Jake LaRavia for protection, Marcus Smart for toughness, and a brand new physique for Doncic, a previously pudgy and breathless child who has acknowledged his very grownup transformation.

“I’m in a better place for sure,” he stated Monday.

Is that adequate to guide a workforce to a greater place within the aggressive West? Who is aware of?

Will or not it’s adequate to persuade James to ask for a brand new contract and stick round for yet one more 12 months? That doesn’t appear seemingly however then once more, The Oldest Living Baller at the moment exists within the unlikely.

The solely certainty is that James goes to make this choice on his personal time, in his personal voice, by way of his personal podcast or social media or heck, possibly one other 30-minute TV particular referred to as, “The Last Decision?”

How ever this performs out, he’s not saying something now, which was apparent when he answered the primary query at his media day information convention with dodgy utterances.

“I mean, I don’t know,” he stated. “I mean, I’m excited about today, I’m excited about an opportunity to be able to play a game that I love for another season. And whatever the journey, however the journey lays out this year, I’m just super invested, because … I don’t know when the end is, but I know it’s a lot sooner than later.”

He offered his most telling trace that he’s leaning into retirement when he talked about appreciating his remaining excursions across the league.

“Knowing that the end is soon, not taking for granted, you know, a Tuesday night in a city that maybe I don’t want to be in that night … let’s lock in because you don’t know how many times you get the opportunity to play the game or to be able to compete,” he stated. “So there’s times where you wake up and you just feel like you just don’t have it. So those will be the days where I know I can lock back in real fast, like, OK, well, you won’t have many days like this, so let’s lock in and enjoy the moment, enjoy the rest of the ride.”

He was requested if, now that he’s performed with son Bronny, would he stick round to play along with his Arizona-freshman son Bryce? His reply was LeBron at his fatherly finest.

“No, I’m not waiting on Bryce,’ he said. “No. I don’t know what his timeline is. He’s his own young man now, like he’s down in Tucson. We’ll see what happens this year, next year, you know, but he has his own timeline. I got my timeline, and I don’t know if they quite match up.”

He was requested if his choice could be influenced by an opportunity to play with Doncic. His reply was LeBron at his jabbing finest.

“Ah, nah. As far as how long I go in my career? Nah. Zero,” he stated. “The motivation to be able to play alongside him every night, that’s super motivating. That’s what I’m going to train my body for. Every night I go out there and try to be the best player I can for him, and we’re going to bounce that off one another. But as far as me weighing in on him and some other teammates of how far I go in my career, nah.”

It could also be Luka Doncic’s workforce, but it surely’s nonetheless LeBron James’ world, and he’s going to manage his narrative all the way down to the final syllables of the final sentences of his remaining goodbye.

And that don’t imply possibly.