LeBron James Posts Cryptic Jay-Z Lyrics In The Midst Of Possible NBA Retirement

Armon Sadler
·2 min read
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LeBron James has been the talk of sports ever since throwing out the possibility of retirement after the Los Angeles Lakers got eliminated from the NBA Playoffs. The 38-year-old posted cryptic Jay-Z lyrics on social media which further fueled the belief that he could be hanging his jersey up for good.

“I’m suppose to be #1 on everybody list/ We’ll see what happens when I no longer exist,” King James wrote in an Instagram story on Monday (May 29) where he shared a post from the @lbjhistory page. The bars come from Hov’s popular track “What More Can I Say” on his 2003 LP The Black Album, which was coincidentally the Brooklyn rapper’s “retirement album” before he returned to the game a few years later.

Beyond the allusions to walking away from basketball or his mortality in saying “no longer exist,” the quote is also tied to the long-running debate over whether LBJ or Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. The four-time NBA Champion has previously staked his claim for the throne, especially following his legendary comeback from a three-to-one deficit in the 2016 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

LeBron James first mentioned the possibility of retirement following the Lakers’ Game 4 loss to the Denver Nuggets, which completed their sweep of the Western Conference Finals. “We’ll see what happens going forward,” the four-time NBA MVP said during the May 22 press conference. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ve got a lot to think about, to be honest. … Just for me personally going forward with the game of basketball.”

This was a significant shift from his energy earlier in the season, especially when discussing playing with his son Bronny James, who recently committed to the USC Trojans men’s basketball team. He mentioned being mentally equipped to play for a few more years and dreaming of being on the same team as his junior. It remains to be seen whether or not that will become a reality.

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