LOS ANGELES: LeBron James is reportedly considering retirement from basketball after the Los Angeles Lakers were swept out of the NBA playoffs by the Denver Nuggets on Monday.
ESPN reported that the 38-year-old was thinking about “walking away” from the sport after the Lakers’ defeat brought the curtain down on his 20th season in the league.
Chris Haynes, a reporter for the TNT broadcaster, said in a separate tweet citing league sources that James’s retirement was “under consideration.”
James himself fueled speculation about his future in a cryptic post-game press conference, saying that he planned to take time to reflect on the next stage of his career after the Lakers’ exit.
Asked for his reflections on the past season, where he became the league’s all-time leading points scorer before leading a rejuvenated Lakers to the brink of the NBA Finals, James said the campaign had been “challenging.”
“I don’t know. I think it was okay. I don’t like to say it’s a successful year because I don’t play for anything besides winning championships at this point in my career,” said James, who delivered a vintage 40-point performance in the Lakers’ 113-111 loss on Monday.
“I don’t get a kick out of making a Conference (finals) appearance. I’ve done it, a lot. And it’s not fun to me to not be able to be a part of getting to the Finals.
“But we’ll see. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens going forward. I don’t know. I’ve got a lot to think about to be honest. 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.”
James signed a two-year contract extension with the Lakers last August that would keep him at the club through the 2024-2025 season.
He has long said that he wants to continue playing in order to play with or against his son Bronny James, who will play college basketball next season at the University of Southern California and could conceivably enter the NBA in time for the 2024-2025 campaign.
LeBron James mulling retirement after Lakers exit: ESPN
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LeBron James mulling retirement after Lakers exit: ESPN
- Thinks about ‘walking away’ from the sport after the Lakers’ defeat brings curtain down on his 20th season in the league
- LeBron James signed a two-year contract extension with the Lakers last August
Bayern demolishes Wolfsburg 8-1 to go 11 points clear in Bundesliga
- Bayern hasn’t lost a Bundesliga game since March and remains the only unbeaten team in any of Europe’s five biggest leagues
Michael Olize scored twice as Bayern Munich started the new year by routing Wolfsburg 8-1 with six second-half goals to move 11 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
Olize, Harry Kane and Luis Díaz picked apart the Wolfsburg defense on Sunday in a display of dominance which leaves Bayern firmly on course to defend the title in only the 16th game of the 34-game season.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany was pleased his players didn’t let up.
“It’s these moments where it’s five, six, 7-1, and they keep running, they keep pressing and keep trying to score goals,” he told broadcaster DAZN. “I have to say, I like that.”
In freezing temperatures for Bayern’s first game since the winter break, Olize got a brace and Kane and Díaz one apiece, along with goals for substitutes Raphael Guerreiro and Leon Goretzka, and two Wolfsburg own-goals.
Bayern only had two nervous moments all game. The first was Dzenan Pejcinovic’s goal for Wolfsburg in the 13th, which leveled the score at 1-1 after right back Konrad Laimer missed an interception.
The other was a brief injury scare for Kane, who needed treatment after being caught on the ankle by defender Moritz Jenz midway through the first half but was soon back in action.
It was Bayern’s biggest margin of victory in a Bundesliga game since Kompany took over ahead of the 2024-25 season. His team has scored a remarkable 63 goals in 16 league games this season, nearly four per game, and conceded only 12.
Bayern hasn’t lost a Bundesliga game since March and remains the only unbeaten team in any of Europe’s five biggest leagues. Wolfsburg is 14th, three points above the relegation zone, as a troubled season hits a new low.
Bayern’s closest rivals all had difficulties this weekend as second-place Borussia Dortmund drew 3-3 with Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen lost 4-1 to Stuttgart and Leipzig’s game was postponed due to snow.
Wolfsburg’s American midfielder Kevin Paredes entered in the 77th minute, his first match this season after recovering from foot surgery in August.
Also Sunday, United States full back Joe Scally scored his first goal since 2023 as Borussia Moenchengladbach beat Augsburg 4-0. Gladbach moved up two places to 10th after winning at home for only the second time this season.
