Austin Reaves names the ‘only reason’ LA Lakers teammate LeBron James is still playing basketball

Austin Reaves says LeBron James is still playing because of his ‘passion for the game’

James playing for as long as he has is an incredible achievement and is something that probably won’t be topped for a while.

James has gotten to see many young players who were born around the same time he was drafted in 2003, join the league. Including his son Bronny James, who was born in 2004 and now is his teammate on the Lakers.

James has accomplished seemingly everything in the NBA, which leaves people wondering why he’s still playing. Reaves shared his take on this on The Young Man and The Three podcast.

“The passion for the game, there’s no there’s literally no other reason for him to continue to play basketball like in my opinion, he’s the best player to ever touch a basketball.

“He probably could have retired six years ago, and people would still say the same thing.

“He has enough money. Regardless of what he was saying on that podcast the other day, he has enough money.

“The only reason he’s still playing basketball is because he loves the grind. He loves the game. He wants to continue to get better. Even when you know you’re at that level, there’s still things that he thinks he can work on to become a better player.

“I think that’s the most incredible thing about him.”

LeBron James enters his 23rd NBA season with retirement looming

Even though James could probably play for the next five years, the reality is his time in the league is coming to an end soon.

James reiterated the end of his NBA career is near and he already said that he is not waiting around for his other son Bryce James to enter the league.

James is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer as all arrows point to this being LeBron’s last season with the Lakers.

But with the subtle hints he has been dropping, this could also wind up being James’ final year in the league.