LeBron James’ cryptic statement sparks retirement rumours

LeBron James sparked retirement rumours after Los Angeles Lakers lost to Denver Nuggets 4-0 in the Western Conference championship on Monday.

Nuggets reached the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

“I got a lot to think about. Just personally, with me moving forward with the game of basketball, I got a lot to think about,” James said after the match.

It must be noted that the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic bagged a 30-point triple double as the Nuggets overturned a 15-point half-time deficit to send James and the Lakers crashing out of the postseason with a 113-111 victory at the Crypto.com Arena.

James had looked to be single-handedly keeping the Lakers´ season alive after scoring 31 points in a magnificent first-half display that left the 17-time NBA champions leading 73-58 at half-time.

But Jokic led a resurgent Nuggets offense in the third quarter, scoring 13 points as the Western Conference top seeds outscored the Lakers 36-16 to turn the contest on its head.

A dramatic fourth-quarter finale saw Jokic put Denver 113-111 ahead with a typically barnstorming driving layup through heavy traffic with 51.7sec remaining.

With four seconds left James had one last chance to tie it up and force overtime, but his attempted driving floater was blocked by Denver´s Aaron Gordon to leave the Nuggets celebrating a famous win.

Denver — one of 11 teams in the league who have never won the NBA championship — will face either the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics in the finals.

Denver — one of 11 teams in the league who have never won the NBA championship — will face either the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics in the finals.

Miami lead Boston 3-0 and can clinch their place in the finals with a victory at home on Tuesday.

"We don´t give up," Jokic told ESPN. "I´ve been saying this for five years — when we were bad or when we were good — we don´t give up. And that´s what happened today.

"They jumped on us the first half, they were better, more aggressive, scoring easily and didn´t miss basically.

"But in the second half we turned the page and everybody stepped up. It was a collective effort, it´s not just one guy."

Jokic finished with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists while Jamal Murray added 25 points. All of Denver´s starters finished with double-digit points tallies, reflecting the team´s depth and balance.

— Additional input from AFP

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