The Los Angeles Lakers are potentially staring down a sweep at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the possible end of the LeBron James era in LA.
The No. 4 seed Lakers led the No. 1 seed Thunder at halftime for the second straight game, but were outscored by 25 points in the second half following yet another collapse over the final two quarters to find themselves down 3-0 to the defending NBA champions.
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“I’m not angry or disappointed,” James told reporters postgame. “Obviously, I’m disappointed being down 3-0, but we still got life and that’s all you can ask for, and we gotta be much better on Monday. We’ll see what happens.”
NBA takeaways: Lakers have no answer for Thunder and their antics
Whatever happens in Game 4, there’s a chance it could be James’ last in a Lakers uniform. His contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and the fact that no extension has been worked out has been at the center of a season-long soap opera filled with rumors suggesting a deterioration of his relationship with team governor Jeanie Buss. There’s also been rumors to the contrary, that the Lakers would be happy to keep James in purple and gold through the remainder of his playing days.
And, of course, there’s also the chance that James retires this summer.
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All signs throughout the season have pointed to James playing a 24th NBA season next year, but his recent declaration that he wouldn’t want a retirement tour sparked renewed speculation.
James’ legacy as a Laker is a complicated one, but that’s another story for another time. He brought a championship back to LA in his second season, ending a decade-long drought for the second-most decorated franchise in NBA history. He was the superstar who wanted the pressure of playing in LA when several in the years before 2018 eschewed what was then perceived as a dysfunctional, rebuilding team that lacked direction (remember LaMarcus Aldridge?).
Though James will probably forever be associated with the Cleveland Cavaliers first, his eight years as a Laker is his longest continuous stretch with any one team, surpassing the first seven years of his career in his home state (though he later rejoined the Cavs for four more seasons following his stint in Miami). He broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record — and several others — wearing a gold jersey.
But none of that matters right now. There’s still more basketball to be played.
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Both James and Austin Reaves had off nights offensively on Saturday; James contributed 19 points to go with eight assists and six rebounds, but was an inefficient 7-of-19 (36.8%) from the field and 2-of-6 from long range and was a -24 in his 37 minutes played. He and Reaves combined for eight total turnovers, half of the Lakers’ total.
That’s not to place the blame solely on the Lakers’ two stars. Realistically, the Lakers were doomed from the moment Luka Doncic strained his hamstring on April 2 in Oklahoma City. It was James who turned back the clock and showed that he can still do incredible things on the court at 41 years old by leading LA to a first-round win over the Houston Rockets; don’t forget his game-tying 3 in the final seconds to send one game to overtime, where they eventually gutted out a 112-108 win behind his 29 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
In this round, however, the Lakers have simply run into a team that’s just flat-out better than them.
They’ve done an admirable job limiting MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but Chet Holmgren has thrived. So has Ajay Mitchell, who has stepped into a bigger role while Jalen Williams has been sidelined with a hamstring strain of his own. Mitchell led OKC on Saturday with 24 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and three steals. Jared McCain and Cason Wallace have been sparkplugs off the bench all series. The Thunder are simply too talented and too deep across the board for the Lakers to compete with for all four quarters, especially without the NBA’s leading scorer this season in Doncic.
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“They’re pretty damn good, from top to bottom,” James told reporters. “They don’t let their foot off the gas. … They have a lot of bodies and they got a lot of guys who can do multiple things on the floor, so it helps to have that depth.”
As for the possibility that Monday might be it?
“Nah, you don’t really talk about that,” James told reporters. “Just focus on the moment, and go from there.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LeBron James contract status, future is uncertain with Lakers down 3-0
