DENVER — Jamal Murray ended the Los Angeles Lakers’ so-close-and-yet-so-far season by reprising his favorite role as late-game assassin.
After hitting a fadeaway going right over Anthony Davis to seal a Game 2 win at the buzzer last week, the Denver Nuggets’ guard drove left this time and drifted into a picture-perfect pull-up that broke a tie for good with 3.6 seconds left in Game 5. For Murray and the Nuggets, the series-clinching bucket delivered a 108-106 victory, providing sweet relief at the end of Monday’s sloppy war of attrition and setting off a frenzied celebration at Ball Arena.
For LeBron James and the Lakers, the dramatic ending prompted a double serving of déjà vu: Murray broke their hearts for the second time in a week, and the defending champion Nuggets eliminated them from the playoffs for the second consecutive season. James walked directly off the court without stopping to acknowledge the Nuggets, stepping straight into an offseason in which the 39-year-old superstar must decide whether to re-sign with the Lakers, find a new home in free agency, orchestrate a team-up with his 19-year-old son Bronny or give further thought to retirement.
James’ first move was to dodge all questions about his future.
“It’s about family right now,” he said. “In a couple months, I have to go to (Las) Vegas for (USA Basketball’s Olympic) training camp. I’ve got to rest my body. … Obviously, at some point I’ll sit down with Rich (Paul), my agent, and my family and see what’s best for my career. We’ll cross that when we need to.”
Optimists could sift through the Lakers’ season and find several positive developments that might help convince James to stick around. After all, James and Davis were productive and largely healthy as they led the Lakers to 47 wins, the inaugural in-season tournament championship and a play-in tournament game victory that set up a rematch with Denver, which swept them out of last year’s Western Conference finals. Though the Lakers lasted just five games in the first round, they avoided another sweep and pushed the Nuggets to the wire in two of their losses.
In the series finale, Davis bravely gutted through a stinger to his left shoulder and James posted 30 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds while logging a team-high 44 minutes. The Lakers made the Nuggets sweat, exposing their lack of depth and inconsistent interior defense. Even Nikola Jokic, the NBA’s best and most reliable player, looked well off his game at the end of the series, finishing with 25 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists but committing seven turnovers – many of them completely inexcusable – in Game 5.
Lakers Coach Darvin Ham praised his team for its Game 4 win Saturday, for “fight(ing) tooth and nail” Monday and for “show(ing) a lot of guts, a lot of character, and that resilience.”
Yet James, who has won just two playoff series in the four years since the Lakers’ 2020 title run, flatly rejected any talk of moral victories. He was stomping mad at the officials on multiple occasions during the Nuggets series, and he looked physically exhausted at times, especially late in games. The four-time champion will be at home again in May, no closer to Michael Jordan’s six rings and with plenty of time to record his new podcast.
“We lost,” James said. “I’m not a participation guy. We lost and we move on and see how we can get better.”
How James moves on, and whether he and the Lakers move on together, will be one of the biggest questions of the NBA’s summer.
Pessimists could make a strong case for a split: The Lakers nearly missed the playoffs despite excellent availability from their two stars, James’ supporting cast turned in another shaky postseason performance, and starting guard D’Angelo Russell said Monday he is eager to explore his options in free agency. The Nuggets aren’t going anywhere, and young stars such as Dallas’ Luka Doncic, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are shoving veterans such as James, Phoenix’s Kevin Durant and Golden State’s Stephen Curry to the side in the West.
There’s also the matter of Ham, who faced increasing criticism this season for his handling of his starting lineups, rotations and in-game decisions. The Lakers have cycled through six full-time head coaches in the 13 seasons since Phil Jackson’s 2011 departure and employed three coaches in James’ six seasons in Los Angeles. Based solely on those burn rates, Ham should be nervous after his second campaign ended with such an early exit.
“The injury bug hit us and it seemed like it wouldn’t get off of us,” Ham said. “I’m not going to feel sorry for myself or ourselves. … I’ve seen a lot in my first two years in this seat. I’ll continue to work, get better and control what I can control. … You take a lot of flak for your rotations and all of that. Rotations are secondary. The primary is health.”
James holds a $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 season, which would be his 22nd in the NBA, and he is eligible for a three-year, $164 million maximum extension with the Lakers. Meanwhile, Bronny has entered his name into the NBA draft pool and the NCAA’s transfer portal.
Father and son possess maximum flexibility: James could pick up his player option for a last dance, re-sign with the Lakers on an extension, turn down his option to become an unrestricted free agent or retire, and Bronny could remain in the draft or seek a new home in college following an underwhelming freshman season at the University of Southern California. James has long harbored dreams of playing with his son in the NBA – a la Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. in Major League Baseball in the early 1990s – and this summer will be his first chance to make it a reality.
“I haven’t given much thought lately,” James said when asked about playing with Bronny. “Obviously, I thought about it in the past. At the end of the day, the kid has to do what he wants to do, and I don’t even want to say ‘kid’ anymore. The young man will decide what he wants to do and how he wants his career to go. I just think the fact that we’re even having the conversation is pretty cool.”
After first raising the possibility of hanging it up following the 2023 West finals and then wondering aloud during All-Star Weekend in February whether he would prefer a retirement tour or an abrupt exit, James opted not to add any fuel to the fire Monday. Given his status as one of the NBA’s top 10 or 15 players even at 39, his continued ability to command maximum salaries and his son’s possible NBA arrival, it’s difficult to envision James concluding he has had enough. However, only a handful of stars have continued playing after their 40th birthdays. James, who ranks first all-time in points and second to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in minutes played, will turn 40 in December.
“To try to play at a high level is very taxing,” James said. “It’s a lot of dedication, hard work and long hours. It’s very taxing. It’s rewarding. If you love the game and love the process and you love being great, you don’t mind taking the tax on your mind, your mental and your psyche.”
The Lakers, for their part, should be highly motivated to retain James given that he averaged 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds – numbers matched only by Jokic and Doncic. A James-less Lakers team led by Davis would probably struggle to score efficiently enough to compete in the West’s crowded playoff field, and James’ worldwide fame and popularity remain central selling points for the franchise.
“If (James returns), our goal is to come back and be a championship contender,” Davis said. “If he asks my opinion, I’m obviously going to try to recruit him back. Ultimately, he’s old enough to make a decision that’s best for him and his family, knowing his time is limited in this league. Probably a couple more years left. His goal is obviously to win, and I feel like we can do that here.”
Just as the Lakers need James, it could be challenging for him to find another organization capable of matching the Lakers’ combination of familiarity, platform, off-court business opportunities and lifestyle advantages, plus an A-list co-star in Davis. Of course, there are intriguing scenarios worthy of daydreams: a big move to the Big Apple with the rising New York Knicks, a superstar union with Curry on the Warriors, or a full-circle return to his home state and the Cleveland Cavaliers, among others.
James, Mr. “Decision” himself, won’t mind if speculation runs rampant before the July free-agency period. Asked if he had considered whether Murray’s shot had ended both his season and his time with the Lakers, James paused, tilted his head and coyly smiled.
“Umm, I’m not going to answer that,” he said, placing the microphone on the table and standing up to end his news conference. “Appreciate it.”
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