NBA legend LeBron James has been told to finish his playing career to maintain his position as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
Former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins believes that to protect his legacy, LeBron James should quit his NBA career.
The 39-year-old’s NBA playoff season came to an abrupt end last month when the Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in the quarterfinals. This led Perkins to strongly suggest that James give up the game.
“I wish LeBron James would retire at the end of the day, I hate to say it, but I believe this in my soul right now,” Perkins said to ESPN.
The top Lakers player, in the opinion of the former Boston Celtics player, should not begin his 22nd season as a professional basketball player since doing so would jeopardise his status as one of the best players in history.
“It’s not that I don’t value LeBron James, or that I don’t want to see more of him,” Kendrick remarked. “To be honest, I think deep down that the longer LeBron James plays basketball, the more it will damage his legacy and his case for being the greatest of all time.”
James has had difficulties recently, as have his Lakers teammates. Before their early departure this season, they had already lost in the first round twice since capturing the NBA championship in 2020. They had even failed to make the postseason in 2022. After the recent series loss to the Nuggets, head coach Darvin Ham was sacked amid harsh criticism for the crushing defeat.
James has won four NBA championships, so Perkins thinks that despite his advanced age, fans will now want more from him as the Lakers try to turn around a dismal season.
Perkins emphasised, “Every season as long as he steps foot on that floor, there’s going to be expectations of him winning a championship.” And we’re going to be staring at him and asking, “Well, what happened now?” when he doesn’t do it.
Now that you’re looking at the Lakers, it seems likely that they will re-sign LeBron James for the next campaign. Who will be held accountable if they fail to advance to either the Western Conference Finals or the Finals? Man, I have a problem. And I have to admit, I can’t decide between the two.