LeBron James remains an active member of the Los Angeles Lakers roster for his 23rd NBA season.
The four-time NBA champion has not made his season debut while dealing with a right sciatica injury. He is expected to be re-evaluated this week.
Charles Barkley, a Hall of Famer, spoke on “The Jim Rome Show” this week and shared his thoughts on James.
“I hope he leaves sooner than later, ’cause I hate to see great players out there struggling,” Barkley said about James. “I really struggled my last year, probably my last two years. It was very frustrating and humiliating for me. Obviously, LeBron is a better player than me, but I don’t want to see great players just hanging on.”
While it remains to be seen how James will fare this season, he did have a 2024-25 season in which he was named second-team All-NBA and finished sixth in the MVP voting.
James averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game in 70 games played last season. He averages 27 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists during his career.
“I would love to see him have a farewell tour, then just walk away because he’s one of the three greatest players I’ve ever seen after Michael and Kobe,’ Barkley said. ‘So, I don’t want to see him hanging on just for the heck of it. But father time is always gonna win.”
Will LeBron James retire after this season?
James has not said that he will retire after this season, but did acknowledge during the Lakers’ media day in late September that the end of his career is near. He also said he doesn’t plan to wait around for Bryce James to make the NBA, compared to the public comments made about wanting to play in the NBA alongside his son, Bronny, years before.
James’ firstborn son currently plays for the Lakers.
The league will have the opportunity to honor LeBron on Feb. 15 with the NBA All-Star Game taking place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.