LeBron James suggested on monday He is considering retiring after his Los Angeles Lakers were swept to the Western Conference Finals by the Denver Nuggets.
The consensus around the league seems to be that the chances of him actually retiring in the coming months are slim to none. Some feel his suspension came from a place of exhaustion and frustration, especially after playing with RPMs at the redline since late December.
There’s also some speculation that James is pressuring the Lakers to somehow acquire Kyrie Irving, his old running mate on the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus (h/t). Lakers Daily).
via Ovarian report:
Other NBA sources have indicated that James started early in his campaign finances in the Lakers front office, trying to sway GM Rob Pelinka to chase free agent Kyrie Irving, who many still expect to re-sign with the Dallas Mavericks, wrote Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.
Given Irving’s mysterious and volatile nature, as well as his friendship with James, there’s always the chance that he’s being chased by the Lakers and that he wants to come to Los Angeles.
But getting him would mean spoiling the team for its newfound depth, leaving it heavy at the top and forcing it to sign players from over the hill to fill out their roster, just as it did in the summer of 2021 after trading for Russell Westbrook.
James is a notoriously prankster and passive-aggressive, so it’s very possible that retirement isn’t a real consideration for him and that he simply wants to play with Irving again.