Once again, LeBron James is publicly non-committal about his immediate future with the Lakers after they got knocked out of the playoffs.

From the moment the trade happened, most could see Los Angeles shifted its timeline by swapping Anthony Davis for Luka Dončić. Dončić is six years younger than Davis, and more importantly, AD's departure exacerbated one of the team's biggest issues. L.A.'s lack of interior protection was exposed again and again by Minnesota.

Central to these arguments, alongside one Michael Jeffrey Jordan, is LeBron James, the quadragenarian “kid from Akron” who is on his way, in all likelihood, to a record 21st All-NBA appearance this year.