Lebron James, eliminated with the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western final by the Denver Nuggets (4-0), left questions about his future and a cryptic message in the press conference after the fourth and final match (111-113). “It was a pretty cool trip (this season). But I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t like to say it was a successful year because I don’t play for anything other than winning championships at this point in my career. It’s no fun for me not being able to be a part of the Finals.”, he argued in the last question of the appearance. “But we will see, we will see. We’ll see what happens later. I do not know, I do not know. I have a lot to think about, to be honest I have a lot to think about. Just personally moving forward with the sport of basketball, I have a lot to think about.”, he added before closing the press conference.
In a titanic and memorable night in which he only rested 4 seconds of the 48-minute game, LeBron had two options to force overtime but his first shot went to the side of the board and the second, already on the buzzer, was blocked by Aaron Gordon. With the statistics against him since he has never come back from 3-0 in the NBA, LeBron took responsibility at the moment of greatest despair for the Lakers and, at 38 years old, gave a wonderful recital of 40 points (15 of 25 in shots), 10 rebounds and 9 assists. LeBron dazzled with 21 points in the first quarter and reached 31 at halftime (a new record for him in a half of the playoffs) but in the second half he showed fatigue.
“Anthony Davis and I talking in the locker room for a bit came to the conclusion that this is one of the best teams, or the best team, that we have played against in the last four years.”, he assured, praising the Nuggets, who qualified for their first NBA Finals. He also surrendered to the enormous level of Nikola Jokic although he clarified that he was not surprised by the recital of the Serbian genius in this tie. “Jokic didn’t show me anything in this series. He already knew how big he was“, said. “You’re always unbalanced defending a player like that because of his ability to score, rebound and shoot. See plays before they happen. There aren’t many players in our league like that. I already knew we were going against a beast before the series started”, he added.
The Lakers have lived a roller coaster this season with a disastrous start (2-10), the departure of Russell Westbrook, a fabulous comeback with new signings like D’Angelo Russell or Rui Hachimura and the growth of Austin Reaves, and some very exciting games in which they eliminated Grizzlies and Warriors. The Nuggets were too much of a team for these deserving Lakers but, in any case, LeBron did not offer certainty when talking about next year’s project. “I haven’t even thought about next year. I don’t know,” she stated. “I haven’t started thinking about next year. We had a great run (in the playoffs) but we fell short of our goal, which is to win championships. That’s what this franchise revolves around. losing is disappointing“, argument.