The Los Angeles Lakers hope LeBron James will decide to continue his career after he recovers from the difficult end to their season.
The Los Angeles Lakers hope LeBron James will decide to continue his career after he recovers from the difficult end to their season.
The Los Angeles Lakers hope LeBron James will decide to continue his career after he recovers from the difficult end to their season.
James didn바카라t meet with the media on the day after the top scorer in NBA history said he needed time to think about his basketball future following the Lakers바카라 elimination from the Western Conference finals.
The 38-year-old James has skipped his team바카라s postseason media exit interviews before, but his decision Tuesday left Lakers fans hanging about his intentions with his enigmatic comments following a four-game sweep by the Denver Nuggets.
General manager Rob Pelinka and coach Darvin Ham said they바카라ll speak with James soon about his future.
바카라We all know that (James) speaks for himself, and we바카라ll look forward to those conversations when the time is right,바카라 Pelinka said. 바카라LeBron 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 you바카라re 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.바카라
Despite James바카라 40-point performance, including a career playoff-best 31 points in the first half, the seventh-seeded Lakers were swept by the top-seeded Nuggets with a 113-111 defeat in Game 4 on Monday night, ending James바카라 attempt to win his fifth career championship in his 20th NBA season.
Ham joked: 바카라Coming off a tough loss like that, the work we바카라ve put in this season, I think I was ready to retire after last night, too.바카라
Pelinka and Ham declined to speculate on whether James바카라 frustration stemmed from his persistent foot injury, which could conceivably require surgery to correct fully. He missed a month of the regular season down the stretch, but returned to his usual heavy workload before the playoffs.
James had been largely healthy throughout his NBA career until he reached his mid-30s in Los Angeles, where he has missed significant chunks in four of his five seasons.
바카라When there바카라s any injury, you seek multiple medical opinions, and there were some that doubted whether he could play again this season,바카라 Pelinka said. 바카라For him to end the season playing virtually 48 minutes and posting a virtual 40-point triple-double as a player in the 20th year of his NBA career is staggering.바카라
The Lakers all said they understood why James would question his future after an outstanding performance in defeat.
바카라I feel like that바카라s human nature, to be his age and be playing at the level he바카라s playing at,바카라 Troy Brown Jr. said. 바카라Personally, I feel like because of his love of the game, he will continue to play. But I don바카라t blame him at all.바카라
Pelinka said he hopes to keep much of the Lakers바카라 current core around James and Anthony Davis, calling roster continuity 바카라a high priority바카라 after several years of major annual changes. James is due to make $46.9 million in the first season of his two-year, $97 million contract extension, but several key contributors to the playoff run are free agents.
바카라I think there바카라s proof in concept that this was a really good team,바카라 Pelinka said. 바카라But we바카라re not going to rest on our laurels. If there바카라s opportunities to get even better, we바카라re always looking to improve. But we have a core that바카라s highly successful, and that바카라s a good starting point.바카라
Los Angeles was one of the NBA바카라s best teams after its moves at the trade deadline, going 18-8 to end the regular season even without James. The Lakers then made an impressive run to the conference finals, knocking off second-seeded Memphis and defending champion Golden State, but ran out of steam against the powerhouse Nuggets.
바카라We feel like we바카라ve got special players in the locker room that enjoy playing with each other,바카라 Pelinka said. 바카라We know there바카라s more growth and improvement in that group, especially if we get a training camp together.바카라
REAVES AND RUI
Pelinka made it clear he intends to do everything possible to re-sign Austin Reaves. The undrafted second-year pro is a restricted free agent after seizing a starting job and effectively becoming the Lakers바카라 No. 3 offensive option.
바카라I want to be here. It feels like home to me, in a sense,바카라 Reaves said. 바카라Obviously it바카라s a lot different than my actual home (in Arkansas). It바카라s a little bigger. Traffic is a little worse. ... But it feels like a home for me, the way the fans support me, the players, the coaching staff, front office. It바카라s just definitely somewhere I want to be, but we바카라ll see what happens.바카라
Rui Hachimura also is a restricted free agent, and Pelinka said the Lakers hope to keep him as well.
Hachimura said his short tenure with the Lakers was 바카라a crazy three months for me. It was one of the best times of my life.바카라
D-LO바카라S FUTURE
The Lakers바카라 most prominent unrestricted free agent is D바카라Angelo Russell, who had several outstanding performances after his trade-deadline return to Los Angeles, but struggled badly enough in the playoffs to lose his starting job in the finale.
Russell, who scored only 25 points in the four conference finals games, called the season 바카라a complete success.바카라
바카라We바카라ll see what opportunity presents itself, and obviously I바카라ll do the best for myself,바카라 Russell said. 바카라I think the future is bright. I think Rob Pelinka has some decisions to make, but that바카라s his job. (I) would love to be here and contribute to that, so we바카라ll see.바카라