A LeBron James retirement tour is still a year or two down the beaten path, yet recent speculation points to the King following in the Mamba’s footsteps in his final NBA season. Is a retirement tour in the cards for LeBron? Here’s what the speculation cards say.
LeBron James Retirement Tour Talk: Following In Kobe’s Footsteps
A Retirement Tour Could Be in LeBron’s Future
A potential LeBron James retirement tour conversation might be too soon to engage in fully. The way James is playing lately leads many to believe he could play two, three, or even four more years. His insane physical conditioning and still-existing greatness still produce one of the league’s top players. Having said that, the 2024-25 NBA season will be his 22nd year, and James does turn 40 in December. Father Time is undoubtedly searching high and low for designs, methods, and schemes to slow the man down.
Even still, as we watch LeBron enter this new season in just over a month from now, retirement looms closer. The end eventually came for former Los Angeles Laker, the late Kobe Bryant. He ended his career with a retirement farewell tour. In the last couple of years, LeBron following suit has been discussed on various sports talk shows by NBA analysts and pundits.
Last year on ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith and now Lakers Head Coach JJ Redick discussed James’ future retirement and how he would handle it. Their conversation piggy-backed on LeBron’s own comments stating that he didn’t know if he would “take the farewell tour or kind of just Tim Duncan it.”
What LeBron’s Recent Extension Says
LeBron’s retirement tour speculation has come up for air again this week when ESPN’s Dave McMenamin shared his thoughts on NBA Today.
“…I think when it’s the final march of LeBron, perhaps Final March rather than Last Dance, we’re all going to know. We’re all going to know and it’s going to be must see TV. It’s going to be the LeBron tour coming to town throughout the 28 NBA cities, culminating in a spectacular farewell.”
McMenamin, who spends much of his NBA reporting time covering the Lakers, clearly has some good insight on the matter. Whether it’s by source or intuition, he seems to be thinking what most are thinking. Plus, LeBron is the retirement tour type of player.
LeBron Deserves Applause From the Masses
Kobe Bryant’s final season was difficult to watch but also such a joy. Everyone loved him, and watching him play his final games and receive recognition in each away city was emotional. LeBron’s tour could stem more so from what he has done for the game of basketball. His impact on and off the court has been instrumental. He’ll leave the game as the NBA’s scoring King and arguably the greatest to ever play, if not the second.
If the speculation turns out to be true, and LeBron chooses a farewell retirement tour route, it will be must-see TV, as McMenamin stated. And rightfully so, it would be a perfect way to honor the legend who came before him by following in Kobe’s footsteps.
