RETIREMENT IS NEXT FOR LEBRON, WHO WON FOUR RINGS AND WILL OWN IN VEGAS
A crushing loss reminded him of Doncic’s injury issues — hello, Nico — and coach JJ Redick’s learning curve, so why come back for a 23rd season with the Lakers far short of an NBA championship
Why return for a 23rd season, meaning he’ll have spent more time in the NBA than the rest of his years on Earth? Did it occur to LeBron James that Nico Harrison might have been right in Dallas about Luka Doncic’s back problems, in a second half when he wore a brace and couldn’t make layups in the final minutes Wednesday night — something about “culture” and “character,” right?
Did he notice his coach and former podcast partner before Game 5, where JJ Redick was disgusted to hear more questions about using the same five players in the second half the previous game? When Anthony Davis and other role players were traded for Doncic, didn’t the first-year coach have no choice but to counter his general manager, Rob Pelinka, before storming out of a press conference.
“Are you saying it because I’m inexperienced, and that was an inexperienced decision I made?” Redick openly fired at a reporter. “You think I don’t talk to my assistants about substitutions every single timeout? … That’s a weird assumption,” he said, prompting Charles Barkley to say, “He’s just a little sensitive. One of the things people say is they never watch television. We all lie. All jocks watch television. He’s been getting criticized the last 48 hours for playing those guys, and he’s just sensitive. Everybody’s afraid to say, ‘I was wrong.’’ All he had to do was say, ‘Hey, you know what? I shouldn’t have played those guys the whole second half,’ and that’s it. Then it would have been over.”
There is no other franchise beyond the Lakers available for James, who could pretend about Cleveland when the Cavaliers don’t need him. Golden State acquired Jimmy Butler. He cannot create another escape hatch as he did three other times. A championship cannot be won in the Western Conference, where the Minnesota Timberwolves ousted the Lakers — behind Rudy Gobert’s 27 points and 24 rebounds as Alex Rodriguez hugged him as an owner should after a 103-96 victory — and paved a path for a future behind Anthony Edwards while the Oklahoma City Thunder contend every year.
This explains why James held a microphone afterward and said he isn’t sure if he’ll return. He should not return. “Um, I don’t know. I don’t have an answer to that. It’s something I’ll sit down with my family and my wife and my support group,” he said. “We’ll kind of talk through it and see what happens. I think I need to have conversations with myself on how long I want to continue to play. It’s up to me if I want to continue to play.
"It's a business. So you don't know what the roster will look like next year besides the guys that (are) locked into contracts. S---, I got a lot to think about myself. I don't know where I stand right now.”
What exactly is the point about coming back when he has scored more points than any other player and has won four championships? It turns out he stayed too long in hoping Pelinka and Jeanie Buss would acquire a monster who’d help LeBron win once more? Doncic is too heavy for his 6-6 frame and will fight injuries, as Harrison said amid much outcry as general manager of the Mavericks. He didn’t become a superstar who led James to another trophy. The Boston Celtics are aiming for a 19th championship, which would place them two ahead of the Lakers.
At what point does a sportsman drive us crazy by overstaying his welcome? Tom Brady won a Super Bowl at 43 in 2021. LeBron cannot win again and will turn 41 this December. His youngest son, Bryce, will play next season at Arizona. His joy of watching Bronny at USC was interrrupted by his son’s cardiac arrest. Why wait for Doncic to find a healthier diet? Why hang out with Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and a team with no big man. Charlotte’s Mark Williams, who would have played center if he didn’t fail a physical, posted a smiling emoji after the loss. He would have helped, but Pelinka said no.
Doncic fell late in the first half after colliding with Donte DiVincenzo. “Luka got tripped,’’ Redick said. “That was a blatant trip. He doesn’t just fall on his own.” Still, one reason he was traded by Dallas were multiple hip-related issues targeted in the Finals by the Celtics. Imagine if Harrison raised his hand today and said he was right.
This is the 18th time James hasn’t won a championship. He was instrumental in bringing in Redick, who replaced Darvin Ham, who replaced Frank Vogel. The Lakers last won rings in a bubble in Orlando. For Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss to have any chance of acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo, James must go and hope Redick grows. “I’ll use my own thoughts to evaluate myself — what my players say and the coaching staff says,” the coach said. “I know I can be better and I know I will get better.”
James won’t leave because of Redick. "I think JJ's going to continue to grow. Thought he had a hell of a rookie campaign for a rookie coach,” he said. “And it's a lot different being a rookie coach. It's already hard being a rookie coach in the NBA. And it's a hell of a lot harder being a rookie head coach coaching the Lakers. It's a whole nother ballgame. And I thought he handled it extremely well. I thought he just learned every single day, held us accountable. He pushed us.”
Doncic? James understood the struggles in acquiring a star, who limped around as Harrison suggested. Are the Lakers going to watch what he puts in his body? “Obviously, sadness,” Doncic said. “I didn’t play the way I should. As a team, we didn’t play the way we should. Mentally, I’m kind of exhausted with everything that happened (since the trade). A lot of people won’t believe me, but I am.”
James is a billionaire. His kids are older. He wants to own the upcoming Las Vegas expansion team. Beyond a devastating injury and another April loss, why play?
Does he need to hear Anthony Edwards say this before advancing? "What makes it feel even better is that they said ‘Lakers in five,’ and the Wolves won in five," Edwards said. "So I think that makes it feel 10 times better. It means a lot. I mean, we beat the best player in the world, the best player ever."
And does he need Hachimura to more or less support Harrison’s urgency about Doncic and defense: “We needed somebody to get rebounds. Unfortunately, I’m not a [center]. I’m 6-foot-8.” And teammate Jarred Vanderbilt to say: “Minnesota beat us to all the dirty work.”
He won one time in purple and gold. He should have won more, as Steph Curry keeps blazing a title trail after winning a fourth time in 2022. His legs ache. His mind spins. “For me, since my first NBA Finals appearance in 2007, the moment I got an opportunity to be a part of that and taste that feeling, from there on, every season that I did not make it to the Finals or did not win the championship has been a disappointment," James said. "So it will be an offseason of disappointment and unfulfillment."
And, surrender.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.