Lebron James cast doubt on his future with the Los Angeles Lakers after their season-ending defeat by the Denver Nuggets.
The 38-year-old, the top scorer in NBA history, even sparked rumours of retirement following the 113-111 loss in game four of the Western Conference finals.
"We'll see what happens going forward," James, who has a contract until the end of the 2023-24 season, said at his post-game press conference.
"I don’t know. 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, I’ve got a lot to think about.
"It was a very challenging season for me, for our club. It was a pretty cool ride, but I don’t know.
"I don’t get a kick out of making a Conference appearance. I’ve done it a lot and it’s not fun to me to not be a part of getting to the (NBA) finals."
James scored 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists against the Nuggets but missed two shots to tie the game in the dying seconds. In a 21-point first quarter he was 7 of 9 from the field and 4 of 4 from 3-point range. He played all but 4.3 seconds in the game while setting a playoff career high for points during any half.
He has previously revealed a desire to play alongside his son Bronny, 18, who currently plays college basketball for the University of Southern California and will be eligible for the NBA next year.
"I thought (James) came out with a mindset to keep this (series) going," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.
"He came into the building as he's been all year, all throughout the playoffs, with a focus and a determination to get it done by any means necessary.
"I just thanked them all. The competitive spirit was phenomenal from Day 1."
Nikola Jokic has been as good as anybody in basketball over the past three seasons, and the Nuggets' big man now will get the NBA Finals stage to show it.
The Nuggets advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history with a four-game sweep in the Western Conference finals.
The two-time MVP scored 30 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out 13 assists for his fifth triple-double in his past six games. He set a record for total triple-doubles in a single playoffs year with eight, breaking a tie with Wilt Chamberlain, who had seven for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1967.
Jamal Murray scored 25 points and Aaron Gordon added 22 for the Nuggets, who trailed by 15 points at half-time and weathered a 31-point first half from Lakers star LeBron James.
"We don't give up," Jokic said on the ESPN broadcast. "I've been saying this the last five years, when we were bad, we were good, we don't give up. That's what happened today.
"They jumped on us in the first half, they were aggressive, they were scoring easy. But in the second half, we turned the page and everybody was stepping up."
Denver swept the series after losing once in the first round to the Minnesota Timberwolves and twice in the second round to the Phoenix Suns.
The Western Conference's top seed will now await the winner of the Eastern Conference finals, in which the Miami Heat have a 3-0 lead over the Boston Celtics. There has never been a pair of conference-finals sweeps in NBA history.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals is scheduled for 1 June in Denver or Boston.
Davis scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Los Angeles, while Austin Reaves had 17 points, Dennis Schroder added 13 and Rui Hachimura contributed 10.
The Nuggets opened the second half with a 9-2 run to pull within 75-67. They got to within 79-78 with 6:27 remaining in the third quarter on a jumper from Murray and pulled in front 83-81 on a three-point play by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 4:39 remaining in the third.
Denver led 94-89 entering the final period, with Jokic already having recorded his triple-double.
Nikola Jokic, Western Conference Finals MVP and recipient of the Earvin 'Magic' Johnson Trophy, shines in the Game 4 win!
— NBA (@NBA) May 23, 2023
30 PTS, 14 REB, 13 AST, 3 BLK 🔥
Game 1 of the #NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV is Thursday, 6/1 a 8:30 PM ET on ABC! pic.twitter.com/4vHSLjRxzr
"For me, (Jokic) hasn't proven anything (new) because I already know he's a great player," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "But I think he's shown other people nationally that he's real, what he's doing is real, the MVPs are real, the triple-doubles are real. All the silly narratives this year are just that, silly and ignorant.
"I think Nikola has gone through three rounds where he's averaging a triple-double. Have you seen any stat padding out there? I'm serious. Enough with the silliness. The guy is a great player. Give him his damn respect."
The Lakers tied the game 102-102 on a putback dunk by Davis with 5:02 remaining. However, Murray was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three foul shots, the Lakers had consecutive misses from 3-point range and Gordon's dunk put Denver up 107-102 with 3:34 left.
Los Angeles came back again to tie the game 111-111 on a pair of Davis free throws with 1:13 remaining before Jokic put the Nuggets back on top 113-111 on a layup with 51.7 seconds remaining. Neither team scored again.
"To get the first Western Conference championship in franchise history, it means a lot," Malone said. "But I speak for 17 players in that locker room, and the entire organization: We are not satisfied. We can enjoy it for a moment. I think it's gonna be a hell of a plane ride home, but we have a lot of work to do."
