Here’s The Full LeBron Quote All The Morning Shows Will Be Talking About On Tuesday

LeBron James was able to turn back the clock for the first half of Game 4, scoring 31 points in 24 minutes of action, leading L.A. to a 15-point lead going to the locker room. However, at 38, he could not continue attacking at that same level and, unfortunately for him, none of his Lakers teammates were able to pick up the slack on that end in the third quarter.

With L.A.’s offense stalled, the Nuggets outscored the Lakers 36-16 in the third to take a 5-point lead into the fourth, where Nikola Jokic and company were able to hold off every Lakers charge to get the win and finish off a sweep to reach the NBA Finals. After the game, LeBron heaped praise on Jokic, called the Nuggets the best team he’s faced in the playoffs since arriving in L.A., and closed his press conference by offering some cryptic remarks about his future.

James was asked to evaluate the season he had and talked about how, yeah it was nice to get to the conference finals with a first-year coach, but that at this point, all he’s playing for is championships so he can’t say this was a successful season. From there, he closed his time on the podium with a cliffhanger, saying “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 will, undoubtedly, be a leading topic on every morning show (and LeBron absolutely knows that), and for good reason. This is LeBron hinting at the idea that he could make some big career decisions, albeit what those are we don’t know. While he just watched his good friend retire in Carmelo Anthony, he has stated dozens of times that he’s not hanging them up until he gets to play with Bronny, which is at least two seasons away. While plenty will point to this being James possibly hinting at walking away, that seems highly unlikely given everything he’s said over the past few years (UPDATE: Or not, as he confirmed retirement was indeed on the table after the game).

However, this is a man who was told by numerous doctors to have foot surgery during the regular season and put it off to make this playoff run, so it’s possible he’ll look to do that this offseason and put himself on the shelf for a chunk of next season. Maybe he’s hinting that he’s not happy with the direction the Lakers are going. Maybe he’s just talking about his summer plans with the family. That’s why he’s as good as it gets at controlling the conversation, because this is compelling enough to get everyone talking and open-ended enough to ensure everyone can let their imaginations run wild.