LeBron James Urged To Retire by His Friend Due to Lakers’ Mismanagement
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LeBron James joined the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2018 during free agency and the NBA legend's run with the franchise has had more downs than ups.
The Lakers missed the playoffs in 2019, won the championship in 2020, lost in the first round of the 2021 playoffs, missed the playoffs in 2022, lost in the conference finals in 2023 and lost in the first round of the 2024 and 2025 playoffs.
Los Angeles was projected to compete for this year's title after acquiring Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in February. However, the Minnesota Timberwolves eliminated the Lakers in five games in this year's postseason.
James, 40, is the oldest active player in the NBA. He turns 41 in December. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, James is expected to pick up his 2025-26 player option with the Lakers and play next season.
However, one of James' friends believes the future Hall of Famer should retire.
if i’m LeBron i’m retiring. They have wasted and mismanaged his final years. The Luka trade was for the FUTURE.
The Lakers went into the Playoffs without a legit center/interior size and that weakness was ultimately exposed.— 73-9 and THEY LIED (@CuffsTheLegend) May 1, 2025
The Lakers traded Anthony Davis to the Mavericks to get Doncic. Los Angeles played without a center in Game 5 against the Timberwolves, who got 27 points and 24 rebounds from Rudy Gobert.
James still has some gas left in the tank despite being the oldest active player in the league. He averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists during the 2024-25 regular season and 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists in the Lakers-Timberwolves series.
However, CuffsTheLegend thinks James should ride off into the sunset as a four-time MVP, a four-time champion, a four-time Finals MVP and the leading scorer in NBA history.
James has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers (twice), Miami Heat and Lakers. He has career averages of 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists.
"I don't know," James said on Wednesday when asked how much longer he would play. "I don't have an answer to that. Something I'll sit down with my family, my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it and see what happens."
Related: LeBron James Makes NBA History Despite Lakers Early Playoff Exit
