National Basketball Association

If Lakers land Kyrie Irving, will LeBron James put off retirement?

Published May. 23, 2023 7:04 p.m. ET

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LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers getting swept in the Western Conference finals was a fascinating story on its own. 

But James shook the NBA world to its core when he revealed after Game 4 that he'd consider walking away from basketball after having completed his 20th season.

"Going forward with the game of basketball," he said during his postgame press conference, "I've got a lot to think about.

 Following the quotes, ESPN approached James for further details, and his conversation with a reporter went as follows:

The fact that James is even thinking about it is a shock to most, as he's long stated he'd like to play in the NBA with his son Bronny, who will be draft-eligible after the next college season. Could he actually walk away from the game in the offseason?

Colin Cowherd says no, and his reason has to do with one special guest who sat courtside during the game on Monday.

"The reason he won't was at Crypto last night: Kyrie Irving," Cowherd said Tuesday on "The Herd."

" … Kyrie Irving provides what the Lakers actually need. They don't need defense, and he doesn't play it. What they need is a ball-handler, 3-point shooter. And he and Austin Reaves can run the offense when LeBron's sitting or misses a game. If I said to you next year: Kyrie Irving, Austin Reaves, LeBron, Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura. … Move off D'Angelo Russell, [Jarred] Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, go find a rotational shooter off the bench. 

"LeBron, AD and Kyrie, you cross your fingers a little bit on health. None of them probably play more than 60 games, but we just watched LeBron have a good playoff run, and Anthony Davis have a very strong, healthy playoff run. … You'd get a lot of buzz and a lot of wins. The two things [Irving] gets ripped for: He needs the ball all the time. That's okay, LeBron's gonna miss 30 games. [Also], well, he doesn’t play any defense. That's fine, Anthony Davis in town, Rui — you've got length and rim protectors. … They lost to Denver by six points, five points and two points. You can certainly talk yourself into Kyrie. … He wouldn't be the backbone of the franchise. AD would be your great defensive player. LeBron would be your leader."

James' retirement is a real possibility according to "The King" himself. But Irving in purple in gold could certainly come to fruition as well. One thing's for sure: This will be an offseason unlike any we've seen in the historic career of LeBron James.

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Los Angeles Lakers

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