On May 30, Beijing time, Lakers star LeBron James reposted a set of photos of himself on IG, accompanied by a lyric from Jay-Z's "What More Can I Say", as follows: I should be the first on everyone's list, let's see what happens when I'm gone.
The US media generally believes that this is James expressing his thoughts about his consideration of retirement and continuing to maintain the mystery of future decisions. After being swept out by the Nuggets in the Western Conference finals, James admitted that he was unsure whether he would return to the NBA in his 21st career season, which caused heated discussions in the United States. Some fans posted a comparison of Jordan and Zhan Huang's career achievements, and said that James was not first on his list.
"We're going to see what happens in the future, I don't know, honestly, I have a lot to think about," he said at the launch at the time. Later, Lakers star Dave pressed James what he was considering, and James admitted that it was about whether to continue playing next season.
However, a number of reporters later reported that considering factors such as sharing the stage with Brownie and retiring from touring, James is unlikely to retire this summer, and a source close to James also said that James is expected to play next season to fulfill his contract with the Lakers. His two-year, $97.1 million contract with the Lakers will begin the 2023-24 season.
In the 2022-23 regular season, James averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game, and finished with 40 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists in the final game of the season (G4 vs. Nuggets).
Shams has reported that James will undergo further evaluation to see if he needs foot surgery, which he expects to take two months to recover. "I'm going to do an MRI to see how well the tendons are healing and then see what happens." James said. James suffered a torn tendon in February's game against the Lone Ranger.