Charles Barkley on LeBron James: 'I hope he retires soon'

It's no secret that LeBron James has transformed the game of basketball and produced some of the greatest moments in the game's history.

He has won four NBA titles, earned 20 All-Star nods, won four MVP Awards, and so much more. He'll be 40 years old in December, yet he has shown no signs of slowing down.

However, Charles Barkley thinks that the end is near for LeBron and that he should retire soon, citing the way his last few seasons went as justification for his claim.

"I hope he retires soon because I hated the way I retired because I sucked," said Barkley. "It ends badly for every jock, and your ego says you can still do it."

Charles Barkley hopes LeBron retires soon

While James hasn't shown any signs of declining in terms of performance, Barkley thinks he should quit while he's ahead.

"I hope he retires while he can still play because man, I've been there myself, I saw Patrick Ewing on his last legs, I saw Michael Jordan playing with the Wizards," Barkley said. "I was like, 'that's the greatest player I played against. I don't want to see him doing that with the Wizards.'"

Barkley obviously has experience with this sort of thing, having been through it himself and watching Jordan and Ewing struggle in their final seasons, and he clearly doesn't want the same fate to befall James as he nears the end of his career.

While Barkley was never quite the player James turned out to be, he still was one of the top players in the league in his prime and declined rapidly towards the end of his career. It's something that can happen to even the best players in the league.

One of the most recent examples of this happening is in Major League Baseball with pitcher Adam Wainwright, who defied age and time for several years before falling off late in 2022. He came back in 2023 hoping to prove his doubters wrong but ultimately put together his worst season before retiring.

It would certainly be heartbreaking for basketball if LeBron ended his career in a similar fashion. Nobody wants to watch one of the greatest players of all time struggle so badly and play past his window when compromised.

James is a free agent this offseason, and it will be interesting to see what type of deal he signs as he enters the twilight of his career.