The Oklahoma City Thunder closed out the Los Angeles Lakers with a 115-110 victory Monday night, completing a four-game sweep of the Western Conference semifinal and leaving LeBron James to contemplate what comes next.
James, now 41 and finishing his 23rd season, enters unrestricted free agency with no immediate clarity on whether he will stay in Los Angeles or explore other options. In the locker room after the defeat, he offered little insight into his thinking.
"What my future holds, I don't know, obviously," James said. "This is obviously still fresh from obviously losing and I don't know what the future holds for me obviously as it stands right now tonight."
He indicated he would take time to decompress with family before making a decision, much as he did following Minnesota's upset of the Lakers last year. "I got a lot of time to sit back and go back and recalibrate with my family and talk with them and spend some time with them," he said, "and then when the time comes, I'll obviously let you guys know what I decide to do."
Despite the first-round exit, James expressed satisfaction with his unconventional role this season. Playing third in the offensive pecking order was new terrain for him. Luka Doncic led the team at 33.5 points per game, Austin Reaves contributed 23.3, and James averaged 20.9 points alongside 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game.
"I was put in some positions I never played in my career before, actually in my life," James said. "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 with over my career and be able to thrive under that, I thought that was pretty cool for me at this stage of my career."
The Lakers were hampered by injuries throughout the postseason. Doncic missed all four playoff games with a hamstring injury. Reaves, who sat out the final five regular-season contests with an oblique strain, returned but had missed the first four playoff games. In the series, James averaged 23.2 points, 7.3 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game.
Reaves also faces his own offseason decision. The 27-year-old guard is expected to decline his $14.9 million player option and test free agency. He echoed the team's resilience in the face of adversity, noting that plenty of franchises would have folded given the roster instability.
"A lot of things didn't go our way this season and there were a lot of opportunities for us to quit, and you know, that's not who we got in the locker room or the organization," Reaves said. "Everybody stuck together."
Author James Rodriguez: "James leaving his future undecided is classic free agency timing, but at 41 and in his 23rd year, the clock genuinely is ticking on how much runway he has left."
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