If Charles Barkley is going to push LeBron James into retirement, he had better run it by his new bosses at ESPN first.

Considering its history of NBA coverage, ESPN should hope James hangs on for as long as he possibly can. But if James is going to make his season debut for the Los Angeles Lakers as a shell of his former self, then Barkley doesn’t want to see it.

James has not played for the Lakers yet this season, his 23rd in the NBA, as he recovers from a sciatica injury. Barkley, however, has wondered aloud whether James’ real issue is that he’ll be 41 next month. And during a recent appearance with Jim Rome, Barkley shared that he’s rooting for James to retire soon because Father Time is undefeated.


“I hope he leaves sooner than later, cause I hate to see great players out there struggling,” Barkley told Rome. “I really struggled my last year, probably my last two years. It was very frustrating and humiliating for me. Obviously, LeBron is a better player than me, but I don’t want to see great players just hanging on.

“I would love to see him have a farewell tour, then just walk away because he’s one of the three greatest players I’ve ever seen after Michael and Kobe. So, I don’t want to see him hanging on just for the heck of it. But father time is always gonna win.”

Barkley is right. After nearly a quarter-century of James being a superstar in the NBA, it would be weird to see him trotting out onto the court as a washed-up player. The problem with Barkley suggesting James should retire soon, however, is that there’s been no indication of him playing at anything less than an All-Star level. Last season, James averaged 24 points, eight assists, and nearly eight rebounds per game. This isn’t Shaquille O’Neal with the Boston Celtics.

James missed his first season opener in 23 years in the NBA last month. It seems premature to wonder whether he’s going to come back from his sciatica injury looking like a player who is hanging on for the sake of hanging on. Maybe James will retire after this season, but it probably won’t be because he’s struggling. And if James comes back looking as effective as he was last season, NBA fans should root for him to keep delaying the farewell tour.