LeBron James is putting off retirement talk but the Los Angeles Lakers superstar says he will only be happy to continue playing while he is on a team capable of winning NBA titles.
James scored 27 points and claimed nine rebounds and six assists to lead the Lakers against his former team the Miami Heat on Wednesday, yet his efforts proved fruitless in a 112-98 defeat.
The Lakers have lost five of their last six games and are 13th in the Western Conference with a record of 14-21 for the season.
James, who turns 38 on Friday and is tied to the Lakers through to the end of the 2023-24 season, has seemingly been growing increasingly frustrated with the team's form, and that chagrin was evident again in his post-game media briefing.
When asked if he has paid any thought to his retirement plans, James told reporters: "I know as long as my mind stays in it, I can play at this level for a minute.
"Now, that's up to my mind. My body is going to be okay because if my mind is into it, I will make sure my body is taken care of and I'll continue to put in the work.
"I'm a winner and I want to win. And I want to win and give myself a chance to win and still compete for championships.
"That has always been my passion, that has always been my goal since I entered the league as an 18-year-old kid out of Akron, Ohio.
"And I know it takes steps to get there, but once you get there and know how to get there, playing basketball at this level just to be playing basketball is not in my DNA.
"It's not in my DNA anymore. So, we'll see what happens and see how fresh my mind stays.
"I think about how much longer I'm going to play the game. I think about that I don't want to finish my career playing at this level from a team aspect.
"I'll still be able to be compete for championships because I know what I can still bring to any ball club with the right pieces."
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham believes James is doing all he can to propel the team.
"He's a fierce, fierce competitor," Ham said of the four-time NBA champion, who leads the Lakers this season with 27.8 points per game.
"The team, we're having our ups and downs right now. We're on the wrong side of the win-loss column.
"So, he's not going to allow himself to be taken out of the mix. He does as great of a job as I've seen ever of making himself available and being able to produce physically at an extremely high level."
LeBron's Lakers move up to the seventh seed, Brunson drops career-high 48 in Knicks win
The Los Angeles Lakers collected their fifth win from their past six games as they defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 123-111 away from home on Friday.
Lakers center Anthony Davis was the star of the show, piling up a game-high 38 points on 15-of-26 shooting while adding a game-high 17 rebounds and an equal team-high two blocks.
Superstar running-mate LeBron James was not as his offensive best, shooting seven-of-19 from the field, but he found a way to contribute with 10 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal to go with his 18 points.
The Timberwolves actually led by 10 at half-time, but the Lakers came out of the break and produced a 35-18 third period to snatch control of the contest.
An Anthony Edwards three-pointer early in the fourth period cut the Lakers' lead to nine, but from that point Davis would score 15 of Los Angeles' next 17 points, taking over when his team needed him most.
It was a disappointing performance from Edwards, finishing four-of-16 from the field for 11 points. Karl-Anthony Towns was strong with 23 points (eight-of-18), and Mike Conley led the Wolves with 25 (seven-of-11) and seven assists.
It was a costly loss for Minnesota, as they could have begun threatening the sixth-seeded Warriors with a win, but instead dropped down to ninth at 39-39.
The Lakers (39-38) jumped two spots up to seventh, and are just 1.5 games behind Golden State (41-37).
Brunson outduels Mitchell in Cleveland
Jalen Brunson put together one of the best games of his career as he carried the New York Knicks to a 130-116 victory on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Brunson set a new career-high with 48 points on 18-of-32 shooting, and he also dished nine assists. It is the fourth time this season he has scored at least 40 points after never scoring more than 34 during his four years in Dallas.
Donovan Mitchell was determined to match Brunson every step of the way, dropping 23 points in the first quarter on his way to 42 (16-of-23) for the game, but Cleveland fell away in a disappointing 25-14 fourth period.
Barring any major losing streak from either of these teams the rest of the regular season, Cleveland will host New York as the Eastern Conference's four-five first-round playoff matchup.
Banchero bullies the Wizards
Number one draft pick Paolo Banchero showed why he is the future of the Orlando Magic after a dominant display in a 116-109 road win over the Washington Wizards.
Banchero, the runaway Rookie of the Year favourite, scored a game-high 30 points, blocked a game-high three shots and snatched down a team-high 12 rebounds, while also leading the Magic with six assists.
Fellow number one pick Markelle Fultz was similarly impressive, shooting 11-of-15 from the field for his 25 points, six rebounds and four assists, while 21-year-old talent Franz Wagner chipped in 20 points (eight-of-14).
Seven-time NBA All-Star Aldridge officially retires
LaMarcus Aldridge, a seven-time All-Star who scored over 20,000 points over an accomplished 16-year NBA career, officially announced his retirement on Friday.
Aldridge has not played this season after appearing in 47 games with the Brooklyn Nets in 2021-22.
The 37-year-old briefly retired following the 2020-21 season after being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat but returned to the Nets the following September after receiving medical clearance.
And Aldridge channelled one of the great sports stars in his announcement.
"In the words of [Tom Brady], you only get one big, emotional retirement," Aldridge wrote on his Twitter account.
"So, on that note... I'm thankful for all the memories, family and friends I made throughout my career. It was one hell of a ride and I enjoyed every min!"
Aldridge entered the NBA in 2006 as the second overall pick of that year's draft following a standout career at the University of Texas.
He spent his first nine seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers and is the franchise's career leader in rebounds, while his 12,562 points in a Blazers uniform trail only Damian Lillard and Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler.
The power forward made four All-Star teams in Portland and was an All-NBA second team selection in his final season with the Blazers in 2014-15 after averaging a career-high 23.4 points per game.
Aldridge left Portland following that season to return to his native Texans by signing a four-year, $80million contract with the San Antonio Spurs. He earned three more All-Star selections over six seasons with San Antonio and again garnered second team All-NBA honours in 2017-18.
The Spurs bought out Aldridge's contract in March 2021 and he signed with the Nets just days afterward in hopes of winning a first NBA championship, though he played just five games over the remainder of that season due to a rapid heartbeat that led to his temporary retirement.
Aldridge became the 48th player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points during his final season and finished his career with 20,558 points, good for 46th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
He is one of only 16 players in league history to record 20,000 points and 1,000 blocked shots in a career.
Giannis says Bucks 'not focused' v Celtics, defeat 'not hard to understand'
Giannis Antetokounmpo was not surprised the Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Boston Celtics due to his team's approach to Thursday's game and warned their rivals would "kick our a**" again if they repeated the performance.
The Bucks retain a two-game lead over the Celtics at the top of the Eastern Conference but suffered a humbling 140-99 defeat in the teams' final meeting of the regular season.
Milwaukee will expect to meet Boston again in the playoffs, and Antetokounmpo hopes they will "change some stuff" for that matchup.
He bemoaned the Bucks' attitude in their home loss, saying: "We know what the deal is. It's not hard to understand. If you're not focused, if you don't play hard, they're going to kick our a**. Simple as that.
"There's no level of concern. It's a fact. Now you have this in your head, and it's up to us to see how we're going to deal with it.
"Are we going to go and play the same way? If we play the same way, we'll have the same outcome.
"We've got to change some stuff. We've got to compete. We've got to have some pride."
The Celtics have lost ground in a month in which they have gone 9-6 – to the Bucks' 11-5 – following a number of unexpected defeats.
But Boston continue to respond well to those setbacks, the latest being this week's loss at an undermanned Washington Wizards.
"We've been pretty consistent all year long for the most part," said two-time All-Star Jaylen Brown. "We probably should be closer to 60 wins at this point, but we're a better team than we were last year. We've won more games than we did last year.
"Overall, we haven't dropped the ball; we might have lost some games, but we haven't let a bad game turn into a bad two weeks or a bad month. We've been able to bounce back."
Mar 28, 2023 NBA
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