NBA analyst Nick Wright has made a bold prediction that LeBron James is going to play for the next five years. James, 37, will play his 20th NBA season in the upcoming edition of the league. The veteran is still at the top of his fitness though he had to go through injury woes in the previous season.
James recently uploaded his new look on social media, in which he clean shaved his head and shared the post with a grandfather emoji.
While reacting to this post on First Things First, Nick Wright said, “Listen, I think him posting pictures is a sign of things to come. I think LeBron is going to play considerably longer than the media seems to believe.
“I think folks are like, ‘His plan is to play this year. Then play two more years where he can link up with Bronny and then be done.’”I think he’ll probably play five more years.”
In fact, Wright’s remarks on James’ future were not received well by his colleagues on the show.
But he continued, “I’d like LeBron to embrace the old guy part. He’s one of the two oldest players in the league.
“I think there’s a psychological element to him leaning into that and still being one of the best, freakest athletes out there.”
The veteran was given a two-year contract extension for $97.1 million recently, which has been the talk of the town in the NBA.
Earlier, James had revealed that he wants to play his last season in the NBA with his son, Bronny James.
“I have a goal that, if it’s possible — I don’t even know if it’s possible — that if I can play with my son, I would love to do that,” said James in the previous season.
“Is that, like, something that any man shouldn’t want that in life? That’s like the coolest thing that could possibly happen. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with this franchise.”
Meanwhile, James was in stellar form in the previous season as he averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.2 assists in 56 games in 2021-22. He was also selected to play in his eighteenth All-Star games.