On May 7, Beijing time, James' former Cavaliers teammate Perkins said on the show that he hopes the 39-year-old James can retire from the NBA, and believes that continuing to play will only hurt his GOAT discussion and historical status, and Barkley has previously expressed similar views.
"At the end of the day, I don't want to say that, but I believe it in my heart now," Perkins said on whether James should retire after his 21st NBA season, "and I want LeBron James to retire, not because I don't want to see more of James or because I don't appreciate LeBron James." ”
"But honestly, I believe deep down that the longer James plays basketball, the more it hurts his place in history and the more it hurts his GOAT discussion. Because as long as he stepped on that court, every season, people would expect him to win a championship. When he couldn't, we would look at him and say, 'Okay, what's going on now?'"
Perkins played alongside James for the Cavaliers in the 2014-15 and 2017-18 seasons, but he didn't play very often. In 18 regular-season games for Cleveland, he averaged 2.6 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 48.8 percent from the field.
For the second season in a row, James and the Lakers' season ended at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. After being swept in the 2023 Western Conference Finals, the Lakers lost 4-1 to the Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs.
James went to great lengths to make the first-round series more competitive. He averaged 27.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.0 blocks and 2.4 steals per game while shooting 56.6 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three-point range.
James' high-level performance against the Nuggets seemed to hint at the notion that he still has a lot of oil and is still one of the best players in the NBA.
But if James decides to stay with the Lakers, it's debatable whether he has a chance to win another championship next season. Since the Lakers won the 2020 championship, the team no longer seems to be competitive enough.
Previously, the famous Barkley suggested that James retire early. "I want him to retire while he's still playing," Barkley said, "I've seen Michael Jordan play with the Washington Wizards, and it wasn't very pretty. I've seen Patrick Ewing play for the Orlando Magic. I'd like to see LeBron James retire sooner, not later...... Because if you keep playing, it will end badly. ”