LOS ANGELES — “What if’s” have filled Crypto.com Arena for the last month.
What if Luka Doncic was available for the playoffs instead of nursing a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and still seemingly weeks away from a return? What if the trio of Lakers stars had been available to play more than 29 games together this season? What if they didn’t match up with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round compared to the San Antonio Spurs, whom the Minnesota Timberwolves have given more than a fight in the other Western Conference semifinal?
The largest “what if” loomed over Game 4 on Monday night, with the Lakers trailing 3-0 in the best-of-seven series against the Thunder: LeBron James’ future.
What if Monday night is the final time James takes the court in his 23-season NBA career? And what if James continues his career, but is playing in another city with another franchise when he turns 42 years old next December?
Lakers coach JJ Redick was asked, at least once more, during pregame media duties on Monday, about what James has provided for the Lakers throughout the season – especially considering the tumultuous stretch since April 2, the night when Doncic and Austin Reaves suffered the injuries that sidelined Doncic indefinitely and cost Reaves nearly a month, dealing a significant blow to the team’s hopes of making a deep postseason run.
“He’s been great,” Redick said. “He’s been great on the court. He’s been great with his leadership.”
Redick referenced what James used to post on what was then called Twitter, ahead of the postseason. He would share a message related to Zero Dark Thirty. For James, it meant canceling the noise out, a social-media blackout to take another step of focus for when the games really count. Redick said he’s noticed that focus since joining the Lakers as head coach in 2024.
“Being around him for two years, even leading up to the playoffs, you certainly see a different level of focus,” Redick said. “And he’s pretty much (at) an A-Focus at all times. So it’s even more intense, I would say.”
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said the pick-and-roll game between James and Reaves has been one of the most challenging actions for his team to try to stop. He called James, when he’s in the middle of the court in a 4-on-3 opportunity, “death.”
So on Monday, after controlling the music in the Lakers’ locker room – sending the speakers into a deep silence in the immediate aftermath after he exited the room to run through his pregame routine on the court – James was seemingly the same, even with the drops of uncertainty in the air.
What’s next is ultimately up to James.
But the pregame flow, as cameras flooded the baseline to watch James shoot from all areas of the court, was for good reason. Any time James takes the court could be the last.
The four-time league MVP and future Hall-of-Famer’s focus before the win-or-go-home game, however, appeared unfazed.