LeBron James admitted he is unsure whether he will continue playing after his 20th NBA season came to an abrupt end.
The Los Angeles Lakers were beaten 113-111 by the Denver Nuggets, who completed a clean sweep of James’ side inside four games in the Western Conference finals. Needing a win to keep the series alive, James put up the highest-scoring postseason half in his glittering career with 31 points inside the first half.
But his personal record, which shows he has a lot left to offer on the court, was not enough to prevent the Nuggets earning another win as James finished with 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
After the game, the 38-year-old admitted he is unsure what the future holds as he ponders his next steps.
"We'll see what happens going forward," James said after the game. "I don't know. I don't know.
“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.”
Expanding on what will consider him to stay on the court for a 21st professional season, James continued: "It's all about availability for me and keeping my mind sharp, and things of that nature.
"Being present on the floor, being present in the locker room and bus rides and plane rides, things of that nature. It's challenging, for sure.
"It was a very challenging season for me, for our ballclub, and obviously we know whatever went on early on. It was cool, a pretty cool ride."
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After starting the season 2-10, the Lakers turned things around to go on a deep playoff run. But James missed a month due to a foot injury and insists he remains concerned with how much he’ll be available if he does continue playing.
"I guess I'll reflect on my career when I'm done, but I don't know," James said about his 20th season.
"The only thing I concern myself with is being available to my team-mates, and I don't like the fact that I didn't play as many games as I would have liked because of injury. That's the only thing I care about, is being available to my team-mates."
"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," he added.
"You know, 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 [NBA] Finals."
