LeBron James, knocked out on Monday with the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Finals by the Denver Nuggets (4-0), left questions about his future and a cryptic message at the press conference after the fourth and final game (111-113). .
“It has been a pretty cool ride (this season). But I don’t know, I don’t know. I hate to say it was a successful year because I play for nothing but winning championships at this point in my career (…). It is not fun for me not to be able to be at the Final”, he argued in the last question of the performance.
“But we’ll see, we’ll see. We’ll see what happens later. I don’t know I don’t know. I have a lot to think about, to be honest, I have a lot to think about. Just moving forward personally with the sport of basketball, I have a lot to think about,” he added before closing the press conference.
In a gargantuan and memorable night in which he rested just 4 seconds out of the game’s 48 minutes, LeBron had two options to force overtime, but his first shot went to the side of the backboard and the second, already on the buzzer, was blocked by Aaron Gordon.
With the stats against him since never coming back from a 3-0 run in the NBA, LeBron took responsibility at the moment of the Lakers’ greatest desperation and delivered a stunning 40-point recital at age 38. (15 on 25 shootings), 10 rebounds and 9 assists.
LeBron shone with 21 points in the first quarter and reached 31 at halftime (a new record for him in the playoff half), but he showed fatigue in the second half.
“Anthony Davis and I talked a little bit in the locker room and came to the conclusion that this is one of the best teams, or the best team, we’ve played against in the last four years,” he praised the Nuggets. qualified for their first NBA Finals.
He too surrendered to the tremendous 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. I already knew how big it is,” he said.
“You are always unbalanced when you defend a player like that because of his ability to score, rebound and shoot. See plays before they happen. There aren’t many players like that in our league. I already knew we were up against a beast went before the series started.”
The Lakers have been on a roller coaster ride this season with a disastrous start (2-10), the departure of Russell Westbrook, a fantastic 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 the Memphis Grizzlies and the Golden State Warriors.
The Nuggets were too big a team for these worthy Lakers, but LeBron was by no means certain when it came to talking about next year’s project. “I haven’t even thought about next year yet. I don’t know,” he said.
“I haven’t started thinking about next year yet. We had a great run (in the playoffs) but we didn’t get to our goal, which was to win championships. That’s what that franchise is all about. And (losing) is disappointing,” he argued.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
