Why Charles Barkley wants Lakers’ LeBron James to retire soon

So many old legends retire way past their expiration date, if that makes sense. Lakers fans don’t even need to look that far. Kobe Bryant’s final game was electric, but fans forget that before that game, Mamba was basically a shell of himself. Countless other stars go down this path.

Now granted, LeBron is far from late-stage Kobe at this point in his career. He’s still an effective focal point for a team that’s consistently in the playoffs. Chuck also isn’t implying that the Lakers star retire now or in the next year. It’s just that Chuck seems to not want to see LeBron play bad basketball just because he thinks he can once his play inevitably declines.

Lakers’ direction for the future

After the disappointing end to their 2024 season, the Lakers’ future is in disarray. There are questions about whether LeBron will stay with the team or not next season. With Darvin Ham out of the picture, it’s fair to wonder if other players might leave as well. D’Angelo Russell is one of the many Lakers that could be out of the picture next year.

At the very least, the Lakers seem to be consistent playoff players year in and year out. When you have a team with as much history as LA, though, a postseason isn’t enough. The closest LA got to winning a championship after their bubble run was last year, when they went all the way to the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately, they got swept that year by the eventual champions Denver Nuggets.

With the highs of their success in 2023, the Lakers came into this season with high expectations. Unfortunately, those expectations quickly proved to be too high. Between the insanely competitive West in 2024 and the Lakers just crashing back to Earth, the team just couldn’t string together a consistent winning streak. For most of the season, they were stuck fighting in the Play-In Tournament range.

The Lakers were able to make it out of the Play-In Tournament. The problem for LA? They were up against the same Nuggets team that eliminated them last year. Predictably, the lowly Lakers were bounced in a gentleman’s sweep.