LeBron James should retire after the 2024/25 season, and here’s why

LeBron James is still one of the best basketball players on the planet, as he pushes age 40. His elite skills are still apparent as the headline player on the Los Angeles Lakers, and were on display during the 2024 Olympics. With that being said, James has many reasons to call it quits after the 2024-2025 season, and he should start his farewell tour now.

The Los Angeles Lakers selected Bronny James with the 55^th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, making Bronny and LeBron the first father-son duo to play in the league at the same time, while also becoming teammates. “NBA history could be made next season, and it should be made in a Lakers uniform,” said Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka to the NBA’s website.

LeBron James has looked forward to the day when this could become a reality. He told ESPN, “I need to be on the floor with my boy, I got to be on the floor with Bronny. Either in the same uniform or a matchup against him. But I would love to do the whole Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. thing. That would be ideal for sure.”

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

Bronny James’ second round selection was a surprise to some given his underwhelming freshman season in college basketball. The fact that both have made it to this point is remarkable, and LeBron James should relish any floor time he gets with Bronny in the NBA this season. With that said, it feels unlikely that the two will be competing in high-leverage situations together anytime soon.

The Western Conference is going to be a gauntlet during the 2024-2025 season, as there are legitimate NBA title contenders that the Lakers would have to upend to get to their final destination. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets all appear to be ahead of Los Angeles in the pecking order right now.

The Lakers have made the playoffs via the play-in tournament in consecutive seasons, and it’s hard to envision them finishing much higher than seventh in the West again this season.

Fanduel has the Los Angeles Lakers at +3500 to win it all, which speaks to how remote their chances of making a run are. The team likely isn’t going to be a realistic title contender in the next couple of seasons, which is one main reason why James should consider calling it a career in the spring of 2025.

Many credit (or discredit) LeBron James for starting the super team era when he joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat for the 2010-2011 season.

Bleacher Report called James’ move from Cleveland to Miami a “cowardly act” at the time it happened. While doing it again at this late stage of his career wouldn’t be as incendiary, James would be better off not leaving Los Angeles for greener basketball pastures another time.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

Those who slot James below the NBA’s all-time greats point to his decision (pun intended) to play with the league’s greatest players to win titles. If he was to pick up a fifth title in this fashion, there’s a high probability that it would be viewed as an unbecoming way to pick up another ring.

Charles Barkley told Sports Illustrated about LeBron James, “I hope he retires soon because I hated the way I retired. Your ego says you can still do it… I don’t want to see any great players play when they’re past their prime.”

Granted, LeBron James’ prime seems to have lasted longer than anyone else’s in NBA history, but it’s often said that Father Time is undefeated, and catches up to everyone eventually.

Michael Jordan came back to the NBA from his second retirement to play for the Washington Wizards, which didn’t ultimately prove to be fruitful or add to his legacy. James has been much more of a contributor in the latter stages of his career than Jordan was, so he might want to step away to have that working in his favor.

As Basketball Reference denotes, LeBron James is a 20-time All-Star, a four-time NBA champion, a four-time league MVP, a four-time Finals MVP, and a 20-time All-NBA player, amongst many other accomplishments.

He’s also the all-time leading scorer in NBA history, which was a mark that many thought James nor any other player would ever reach.

There’s simply nothing left for James to prove in his age 40 season, and it’s a main reason why he should strongly consider retiring now.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

Should LeBron James retire after the 2024-2025 season, or should he continue to play in the NBA for years to come? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment!