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LeBron James knocking out the playoffs against Denver

Photo: Ashley Landis / AP

Four losses in four games against the Denver Nuggets ended the Los Angeles Lakers' season in the Western Conference Finals. The title in the best basketball league in the world will probably be determined by the Nuggets around their strong leader Nikola Jokić in a duel with the Miami Heat, who already lead 3-0 against the Boston Celtics in their series.

James finished his last game of the season with 40 points. In the history of the NBA, no player older than the 38-year-old has scored 40 points in a playoff game.

After much praise for the strong performances of the Nuggets around Jokic, who again hit the most impossible shots in the 113-111 in LA and thus helped his team to make up a 15-point deficit at the break in the third quarter, James ended his conversation with the media very thoughtfully. The question is "whether I want to continue playing," he said, according to ESPN in a short conversation with a reporter from the U.S. broadcaster. The journalist had asked James for more clarity on his comments just minutes earlier.

»Only play to win titles«

"At this point in my career, I'm only playing to win titles. I don't get a kick when I'm in the Conference Finals. I've been there. Often. I don't enjoy it if I'm not part of getting to the Finals," the 38-year-old NBA scoring record holder said. We'll see what happens. There's a lot I need to think about. I don't know. I have a lot to think about, if I'm honest. There's a lot to think about about what's next for me personally with basketball.«

James is under contract with the Lakers for at least one more season, if he wants to do so, even one more. Anthony Davis also has a valid contract. However, it is unclear who will don the legendary jersey in yellow and purple alongside Jarred Vanderbildt and the young Max Christie from the 2023/2024 squad, which was overhauled in February, regardless of James' mind games. The future of German national team captain Dennis Schröder with the Lakers is also still unclear.

mfu/dpa