The Lakers' season came to an abrupt end on Monday night, in a 113-111 loss that sent the Denver Nuggets to their first-ever NBA Finals. In the dying seconds of the game, LeBron had two attempts to tie the game and send it to overtime but missed both. In a muted press conference, LeBron was broached with an almost expected question - would he be back next season?
“We’ll see what happens going forward,” LeBron said. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ve got a lot to think about, to be honest. Just for me personally going forward with the game of basketball, I’ve got a lot to think about. Appreciate it.”
Lakers Hoping To Keep LeBron Next Season
"We all know that [James] speaks for himself, and we'll look forward to those conversations when the time is right," GM Rob Pelinka said. "LeBron has given as much to the game of basketball as anyone who has ever played. When you do that, you earn a right to decide whether you're going to give more. … Obviously, our hope would be that his career continues, but we want to give him the time to have that inflection point and support him along the way." Elsewhere, head coach Darvin Ham weighed in as well. "Coming off a tough loss like that, the work we've put in this season, I think I was ready to retire after last night, too."
"We ultimately got knocked out by a team that has great continuity," Pelinka continued. "They've got a group of players that have been together for several seasons, and it shows in the way they play. We feel like we've got special players in the locker room that enjoy playing with each other. We know there's more growth and improvement in that group, especially if we get a training camp together." The GM added, "I think there's proof in concept that this was a really good team. But we're not going to rest on our laurels. If there's opportunities to get even better, we're always looking to improve. But we have a core that's highly successful, and that's a good starting point."
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