Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
The duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis has proven they can reach the highest level when they led the Los Angeles Lakers to the 2020 NBA Championship. While they haven’t returned there, Davis and LeBron continued to prove this year that when they are healthy, they can compete with the best the league has to offer.
Unfortunately for them and the Lakers, they have run into a buzzsaw in the Denver Nuggets two years in a row in the postseason and have seen their year ended at the hands of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. And now for the second straight year, there are questions surrounding James’ future after 21 years in the league.
Davis himself isn’t quite sure what LeBron will decide, but will support his friend in whatever choice he makes.
“He’s been in this position numerous times in his career where he’s had to make a decision ultimately for himself and his family,” Davis said. “I’m gonna be right there supporting him in whatever he decides to do. I’m not sure, I don’t know (what he will decide), it’s still fresh. I’m pretty sure it’s not even on his mind right now. Pretty sure he’ll come talk to me and tell me what’s going on before he goes public with the decision just to keep me in the loop.
“But yeah, obviously it’s been a great five seasons with him. If he does decide to come back, obviously we want to be better than losing in the first round. If he does, obviously our goal is to come back and be a championship contender. Stay healthy and give Lakers Nation what they deserve. But he has a decision to make and when that time comes, he’ll inform me and inform you guys.”
As Davis said, James has to make the best decision for himself and his family. But the Lakers big man would obviously love for him to return to the purple and gold for another season and he plans on staying in LeBron’s ear this summer about it.
“Absolutely. I feel like we complement each other. We’ve done something special together,” Davis added. “The good thing about it is I’m gonna be with him all summer. So we’ll have a lot of conversations and things like that. But he knows how I feel about him. Like I said, he’s been in this game a long time. This is season 21 and he’s been in this position a couple times to make these type of decisions.
“If he kind of asks my opinion or whenever we talk about it, I’m obviously gonna try to recruit him back. But he’s old enough where he’s gonna make a decision on whatever is best for him and his family knowing that his time is limited in this league, probably a couple more years left. His goal is obviously to win and I feel like we can do that here, but ultimately it’s how he feels and what he decides.”
Davis believes he and LeBron are capable of raising another championship banner with the Lakers and he is going to do whatever he needs to try and convince his co-star to stick around. But the decision is ultimately not his to make and when James knows, the rest of the world will too.
Lakers’ LeBron James clarifies reports on his future
Immediately following the Lakers’ playoff elimination, LeBron James was asked about his future and made it clear he hadn’t given it thought yet.
“I don’t have an answer to your first question, to be honest. I haven’t given it much thought,” James said. “Obviously, at some point, I’ll sit down with Rich [Paul], my agent and I will sit down with the family and will see what’s best for my career. We’ll cross that when we need to.
Even still, reports began coming out stating that LeBron planned on opting out of his contract with the Lakers, amongst other things, prompting the Lakers superstar to take to social media and re-iterate that no decision has been made and won’t be made until he speaks with his family and trusted inner circle.
