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During his recent appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast, hosted by Shannon Sharpe, the former NBA star, Charles Barkley, spoke about the career path of LeBron James, 39, after the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The 61-year-old hoped that LeBron James would retire while he can still play.
Although LeBron James bowed out of the NBA playoffs in the first round, he had a sensational year on the court with the Los Angeles Lakers, scoring 25.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 8.3 APG in the regular season. During the NBA playoffs, James put on a better performance, notching up 27.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 8.8 RPG, but it didn’t prove to be enough for the Lakers.
In the aftermath of not winning the NBA championship, LeBron James is reportedly considering retirement from the sport apart from leaving the Los Angeles Lakers.
While appearing on the Club Shay Shay podcast, Charles Barkley weighed in on what’s next for LeBron James in his professional basketball career, and said, “I hope he (LeBron James) retires soon because I hated the way I retired because I sucked.”
“Your ego says you can still do it, because I remember telling myself the last two years, ‘Ok, I am going to get myself in great shape this summer. I am going to have a good year and then I am going to retire’. Then I figured out like playing against air, everybody is good against air, everybody is great against air. But when you see another 25-year-old, who is looking at you like, licking his lips, you’re like oh! shit. And like there is nothing you can do,” Charles Barkley added.
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Charles Barkley also gave examples of former players, who played past their primes and looked like a pale shadow of their former selves. He remarked, “I hope he (LeBron James) retires while he can still play. I’ve been there myself; I saw Patrick Ewing in his last legs, saw Michael Jordan playing with the Wizards. I don’t want to see any great playing past their prime.”
