Discourse over when LeBron James will hang his sneakers up has been ever-present within the NBA community for years on end now. It’s easy to feel as though the Lakers forward has another half decade in the tank given his extraordinary play night in and night out. However, Gilbert Arenas believes it’s almost time James calls it a career.
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“He gone next year man. 2026 man he outta here. Y’all can kiss my a**. Ohio style. C’mon man, look at him. At this point, what am I really proving?”
Gil says LeBron is retiring in 2 years pic.twitter.com/jrsIMMxMQ3
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) November 18, 2024
Arenas stated this on Gil’s Arena and would receive a bit of pushback. Nick Young brought up the fact that he would want to play with his second son, Bryce Maximus. Arenas acknowledges this premise but doesn’t pay much mind to it.
“As of today, I think something’s been fulfilled that he never saw coming, no player saw coming, and no players have actually had. He gets to be with his son [Bronny] 365 days.”
LeBron continuing to play hinges on his mental capacity to suit up every night. It cannot get any simpler than that. Looking at the physical specimen that he is, James could be an effective player and even a star in the NBA until his early to mid-40s. His willingness to want to be in the league is what will ultimately determine when he retires.
‘The King’ has spoken about his potential retirement plans recently. It’s clear that leaving the league on his own terms is currently on his mind.
LeBron James isn’t shy to address retiring
The topic of James retiring came from the man himself when he suggested he would step away from the game following getting swept by the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 WCF. He would dispel these rumors at the ESPY’s that same year and have another successful individual campaign in 2023-24.
Fast-forward to a couple days ago and James was asked point-blank about the prospect of retiring. He would admit that he doesn’t plan on playing till the wheels fall off.
“I’m not going to play that much longer to be completely honest. I don’t know how many years that is, one year, two years, whatever the case may be.”
Almost every single athlete that has played sports at a professional level has been pushed out of their respective league due to their body failing to keep up. LeBron could be one of the first professional athletes to retire on his own terms and leave because he simply has had enough.
Gilbert Arenas was right to ask what more James has left to prove. While yes, going into the minutiae of his career might reveal some cracks that need to be filled like the DPOY award, the overarching theme of his career can be attributed to one word: success. 22 years in and he’s one of the greatest players to every play in the NBA, if not the greatest. That’s enough for anybody to want to call it a ‘stalemate’ against ‘Father Time’.
