James still has gas left in the tank.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James just wrapped up his 23rd NBA season without saying whether he'll come back for another one.
The 41-year-old is an unrestricted free agent after the Lakers finished 53-29 and were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round.
His former teammate Dwyane Wade was on the Wy Network this past week, and he framed the whole retirement conversation in a way that actually makes sense of why James is still playing.
"I'm just here to appreciate what I'm witnessing...because we've never seen this before," Wade said. "It has to suck a little bit to get to this point in your career and still be really good."
Then Wade brought up his own retirement and how different it was.
"I can still play. I can go play right now and still be able to play, but I won't be that good, so it's easy for me to decide to walk away," Wade said. "It's hard to make that decision when you're still really f*cking good. How do you walk away from being a GOAT when you're still a GOAT?"
The Numbers Still Back It Up
Wade retired in 2019 at 37, when his body had already told him everything he needed to know.
James is four years older than Wade was when he hung it up and somehow still producing at a high level.
He put up 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists across 60 games this season on 51.7 percent shooting from the field.
Those were career lows in scoring, but only because he moved into a third-option role behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for the first time in his life.
Once the playoffs started and Doncic went down with a hamstring strain, James went right back to carrying the offense.
He bumped up to 23.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in the postseason, and his final game was his 302nd career playoff appearance, most in NBA history.
Why the Lakers Want Him Back
Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick both went out of their way after the season to say they want James back.
Pelinka said any team in the league would want him on their roster and that the Lakers plan to give him the space to make his decision with his family.
James has spent eight seasons in Los Angeles and his son Bronny is a backup guard with the team.
The franchise is building around Doncic going forward, but executives around the league see a one-year deal to bring James back as the obvious play this summer.
Wade said James will probably take some time off, drink some wine, and travel before sitting down to figure it all out.
Nobody knows what he'll decide, but that's really Wade's whole point.
When someone is 41 and still playing like that, walking away is a lot harder than anybody watching from the outside can understand.
