Family First? LeBron James Discusses What Matters Most in Future Career Decisions

Those words need to be supported by a context. Although James will turn 42 in December, he had averaged 23.2 points, 7.3 assists, and 6.7 rebounds in his postseason run before Oklahoma City demolished the Lakers in the second round.

Returning to L.A. would likely come with a lower salary than his $52 million desired last year, as he has spent eight seasons with the Lakers.

Competition plays an equal role as the family discussion. On the same podcast, James was brutal on what any future destination needs to have.

“Winning is most important cause you want to be excited about going to work every day.”

That reduces the number of potential options quite a bit. The Knicks, the Warriors and Cleveland have all been cited as potential places that could offer something of the winning culture James is looking for.

When you take a look at how the Lakers ended their season, and what it said about the roster, those ripple effects are already apparent.

LeBron James Admits the Thunder Simply Had More Talent

The Lakers suffered four consecutive defeats to Oklahoma City, but they never folded. Los Angeles won at halftime twice and was briefly the better side of the ball until the Thunder took the lead late in the game. The sweep revealed a greater depth of effort or execution.

On Mind the Game, James spoke directly about it.

“If we’re being completely honest, we were out-talented. We were not outworked. You know, they didn’t out-physical us. They didn’t outsmart us. You know, I feel like we were just out-talented by OKC.”

Without Luka Doncic, the Lakers were missing their offensive powerhouse, which was quickly revealed by the pressure they were under from Oklahoma City.

Marcus Smart and Austin Reaves had almost nine turnovers per game, while the Thunder always got back to the basket when they committed a mistake.

LeBron shot 50% from the field, and Rui Hachimura contributed 20 points on 55% from three, but carrying that load at 41 ultimately caught up with him.