Speaking on ESPN Radio this week, NBA legend Charles Barkley gave some interesting advice to LeBron James on when he should hang up his jersey. According to Barkley, LeBron shouldn’t bother trying to play much longer and risk tainting his career with subpar play on the court.
“I hope he retires while he can still play,” Barkley said. “I saw Michael Jordan [play] with the [Washington] Wizards and it was not pretty. I saw Patrick Ewing with the Orlando Magic. I would love to see [LeBron James] retire sooner rather than later…because it ends badly when you keep on playing.”
It’s never easy for a player to end his basketball career, but Father Time is undefeated, and it comes for every player. Unfortunately, when it comes to the all-time greats, it can go either way on how their decline pans out. In the case of guys like Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson, we saw them as a shell of themselves at the end and it was at a point where they were almost unrecognizable from their prime basketball years.
In the case of Kobe Bryant, he remained loyal to the Lakers until the very end but his determination to keep playing resulted in some of the worst seasons of his career and it held the Lakers back for many years until his eventual retirement.
At 39 years old, it’s no secret that the end is near for LeBron and even he’s been open about this fact. But rather than go out on the decline, why should he not end things while he’s still at the top? After back-to-back losses to the Nuggets and fading durability, it seems like LeBron’s best days are already behind him and Barkley believes he’s better off ending things before he experiences a major drop-off in his game.
LeBron James Only Has A Few Years Left
After 21 seasons in the NBA, LeBron doesn’t have much longer in the NBA, and he has a big decision to make this summer as an unrestricted free agent. With the potential to join forces with his son, the 2023-24 campaign may have been LeBron’s last with the Lakers, depending on how everything shakes out.
After averaging 25.7 points, 8.3 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per game on 54% shooting this season, LeBron proved that he is still one of the best in the world and experts agree that he could still have several years left at this level of production.
But after dedicating over half of his life to the game of basketball, LeBron is ready to settle down, spend time with his family, and enjoy the luxuries of retirement after a Hall of Fame career. With so much on the line, the whole world will be watching and waiting for the King’s decision and he will have total control over his path ahead.
If he wants to avoid experiencing a sharp decline like other legends, LeBron may want to consider shutting it down as soon as possible especially since the Western Conference is only getting tougher. LeBron has nothing left to prove at this stage of his career and other NBA superstars have already begun to take over as his time has already passed.
