LeBron James on retirement: ‘I’m not going to play that much anymore, to be honest’

LOS ANGELES — It seems like an odd time to be talking about retirement with a man who just put together three consecutive triple-doubles and is playing at an All-NBA level.

But time is always part of the story now with LeBron James – them three consecutive triple-doubles set the record for the oldest player ever to accomplish that featand did it at the age of 39. That broke LeBron’s old record, which was set at the age of 34. Next month, LeBron turns 40, so the question of how much longer he can do this – or how much longer he will do it – come up.

“It’s the mind,” LeBron said of what will determine when he hangs up his Nikes. “Wherever my mind is is how the rest of my body is going to go, whatever the case may be. I’m not going to play that much anymore, to be honest. One year, two years, what than the case may be I said the other night I won’t play until the wheels fall off.

“I don’t want to be that guy. I don’t want to be that guy that disrespects the game because I just want to be out on the floor.”

LeBron is repeating what he’s said in the past and what the handful of great athletes who can opt out of the game have long said (most pro athletes have the option to walk away for them when teams don’t give them another contract despite the player wanting to continue). It’s not the body – especially in LeBron’s case when he’s taken such extraordinary care of his – it’s when the player no longer has the desire to put in the work it takes to get their body ready to play. It’s not that said player doesn’t want to continue playing, but he doesn’t want to do what needs to be done to continue playing at that level.

LeBron comes to the end of this season when it’s for the Lakers, sit back and reflect, then make his call. Will he do this for season 23? The Lakers are happy to pay him if he wants to come back.

The question is, when does his mind tell him it doesn’t want any more? LeBron doesn’t know when that will be, but he senses it’s coming.