What’s subsequent for LeBron James after one of many Lakers’ most disappointing seasons in franchise historical past?
In his end-of-season press convention on the crew facility in El Segundo Monday, James was requested if he plans to signal his contract extension with the Lakers, which is accessible on Aug. 4.
“The dialog hasn’t been talked about technically due to the [NBA’s] collective bargaining settlement,” mentioned James, who turns 38 in December.
“I do know it’s on the market, however myself and [agent] Wealthy [Paul] can’t even start to speak to [GM] Rob [Pelinka] and the entrance workplace due to the collective bargaining settlement. After we get to that time, we’ll see.”
Whereas reflecting on the season — during which the 33-49 Lakers didn't make the play-in match ¸— James mentioned, “I got here right here to win a championship however I wish to win extra … I completed what I wished to perform … however I wish to do it once more.”
The Lakers’ season ended Sunday in a 146-141 extra time win over the Nuggets that was fueled by Los Angeles’ youthful bench gamers. The Lakers sat their Massive 3 — James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook — who performed simply 21 video games collectively resulting from quite a lot of accidents.
“I used to be watching the sport (Sunday) night time and it was our forty first beginning lineup of the season. That’s virtually half the season,” James mentioned, later including, “We by no means acquired a full staple measurement of that the crew can probably be.”
James’ taking part in future has been closely speculated on, particularly with the four-time NBA champion’s latest damage historical past. He performed 56 video games this season and missed time resulting from separate stomach, knee and an ankle accidents.
Nonetheless, James put up MVP-caliber numbers when wholesome. He averaged 30.3 factors, 8.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per sport this season.
“The truth that I used to be taking part in the best way I used to be taking part in and it wasn’t leading to wins, it wasn’t sufficient,” James mentioned.
The Lakers completed this season twenty second within the league in offensive effectivity and twenty first in defensive effectivity. Now, Los Angeles faces quite a lot of questions heading into the offseason: Who will return to the roster that James beforehand helped stack with future Corridor of Famers? Who would be the subsequent head coach?
Quickly after James’ exit interview, the Lakers formally parted methods with head coach Frank Vogel.
James mentioned he’ll be hands-off in roster selections main as much as subsequent season. It has been extensively reported that James was instrumental in having Westbrook traded from the Wizards to the Lakers. It's a film that backfired spectacularly.
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