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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James will forever be linked after the latter broke the former’s NBA all-time scoring mark this season, and the big man seems to understand if the King wants to walk away after 20 years in the league.
“At the end of the year, after all that, LeBron and most of the guys looked like they’d been through two seasons, you know? But they still gave it an awesome effort,” Abdul-Jabbar said Monday, per Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “I think it’s up to him. Certainly doesn’t have to prove anything. And it’s just what he wants to do at this point.”
The idea of James retiring started to pick up steam when he seemed to hint at it during the postgame press conference after the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.
Then Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes reported “retirement is under consideration,” with James himself also confirming to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin that he would contemplate retirement.
It would still be surprising if James walked away, especially after he was still so effective in 2022-23. Not only did he surpass Abdul-Jabbar for the most points in NBA history, he made the All-NBA Third Team at 38 years old and led the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals despite a 2-10 start to the season.
James secured his spot among the game’s all-time greats long before his impressive 20th campaign in the league.
Perhaps there is still some motivation in play to pursue Michael Jordan in championships (six to four) and league MVPs (five to four), but nobody can doubt LeBron’s status as an NBA icon who will forever be discussed among the greatest to ever lace it up.
Abdul-Jabbar is also in that group and perhaps knows better than anyone how James feels at this stage of his career considering the Hall of Famer played 20 seasons of his own.
“My next-to-last season, the ice started to feel good,” he said. “I knew it was time to get out of there.”
Perhaps James will feel the same one day, but he will likely be on the court in 2023-24 and looking to add more accomplishments to his already illustrious resume.
