Instagram/@kingjames
Since LeBron issued a cryptic statement, everybody in the basketball world is abuzz. In other words, is LeBron considering retirement? The Instagram clip had a partial off-camera voice asking, “What’s next?” then, “Are the retirement rumors true?” It did say it was an ad which is just about the only spoiler, but that absolutely didn’t deter his fans from reading between the lines.
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It comes at a time when the NBA Finals are on. Suspiciously, this has evolved into nothing but clever marketing from one, with another joking, “whole time this is a royal kingdom ad,” while a third person chimed, “This bout to be a royal kingdom ad😂”. Others really took this seriously and poured emotion into the comment section. One could be heard pleading, “Nooooo goat don’t leave me💔💔💔💔💔💔,” another begged, “stop messing around, one more chip.”
Retirement rumors aren’t new to the 39-year-old legend who has just ended his 21st season of NBA. Some fans have already started crafting the perfect farewell event, for example, someone who says, “Last game should be the Olympics in LA on our home soil. Walk off into sunset with 1 last gold medal 🏅 👑.” Others are wishing the dude hangs around long enough to link up with his son Bryce, accompanied by “Not yet bro . Play with bryce @kingjames,” and “Need the farewell tour Bron 🐐…he waiting 1 more year for Bryce.”
The ones that don’t seem to stand for this retirement tease at all were captured. “Bron passive aggressive wants attention again cuz nba finals is going…didn’t I tell you he would tweet something about retirement or hint retirement while NBA finals is going for attention,” said that skeptical fan. That stirred scattered opinions abroad, and a defender fired back with, “unfollow the GOAT than 🤡.”
Now, at a point, even some humor came into play. “I’m edging to this 😂,” said one fan while a second one sarcastically suggested, “Adam silver should end the nba when bron retires.” There was even a detour into a tangent like the random interjection of, “UNC gotta stop playing like this bruh,” telling of the Crazy antics LeBron’s posts inflict.
Is this an actual retirement contemplation, or just another step of LeBron towards the development of a brand? The guy who in 2010 sat down on TV and said, “I’m taking my talents to South Beach,” definitely knows how to hold people’s attention. A fan preceded that moment with a cheeky comment that read, “I’ll be taking my talents to south beach,” and was promptly dubbed “elite ball knowledge.”
Almost any LeBron post on social media is dissected like the Zapruder film nowadays. The guy could post a picture of his breakfast, and in a minute, he could be the subject of countless rumors. But this one is different, for we all realized Father Time is undefeated, and even the King just can’t play forever. Of course, there are those hopeful ones, like one comment reading “20 more years button ——–>”, and another saying, “Chill you have 10 years left.”
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One thing is for sure: The basketball world would just not be ready whenever LeBron decides to go ahead and hang it up. Till then, deceit flows alongside every emoji, cryptic caption, and off-season post for clues about what the four-time champion really has in thought next. As one fan very aptly put it: “Finish your legacy with NBA title 👑” – and something tells me LeBron ain’t finished with putting pen to paper just yet.