The Los Angeles Lakers came up short this season, but LeBron James accomplished various unprecedented individual feats.
Nobody else has ever played 23 NBA seasons, for one. At 41, James scored 232 points across 10 playoff games, and according to Tom Haberstroh, every other NBA player aged 41 or older combined to score 212 points in league history.
James led the Lakers past the Houston Rockets in six games in the first round, but Los Angeles was swept - and thoroughly dominated - by the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals. Oklahoma City won Game 4, 115-110.
After the Lakers’ elimination, James stopped short of making any sweeping proclamations about retirement, but he had plenty to say about the season he just completed.
“I left everything I could out on the floor,” the 22-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion said. “I control what I can control, and I can leave the floor saying, like, [expletive], I mean, even though I hate losing, obviously, but I was locked in on what we needed to do. Made sure, tried to make sure, our guys were locked in on what we needed to do throughout the postseason.”
James added, “I’m not looking at my year as a disappointment, that’s for damn sure. I was put into positions I never played in my career before - actually, in my life. I’ve never been a third option in my life. So, to be able to thrive in that role for that period of time, and then have to step back into the role that I’ve been accustomed [to] over my career, or my life, of playing this sport and being able to thrive under that. And then, just my teammates allowing me to lead them under extreme circumstances, that was pretty cool for me at this stage in my career.”
James was the Lakers’ third scoring option for much of the season, deferring to All-NBA and All-Star guard Luka Doncic, who won his second career NBA scoring title, and Austin Reaves. But when Doncic suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2, Reaves was diagnosed with an oblique strain two days later, James was thrust back into his usual No. 1 spotlight.
Reaves returned for Game 5 of the Lakers’ first-round series with the Rockets, but Doncic did not play for the rest of the season.
Now, James is entering unrestricted free agency, and Reaves has a player option. The consensus seems to be that James will play a 24th NBA season, but the question looming over the summer is where he’ll play it.
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