LeBron James refuses to be drawn on future: 'I need to figure this thing out'

• Cleveland Cavaliers lose to Golden State Warriors in NBA finals

• Kyrie Irving says Cavs will return to face Warriors again

After the Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals, the Cavaliers had a lot of emotions to process. Head coach Tyronn Lue said he “broke down” and couldn’t even finish his speech in the locker room. “A lot of guys cried because they wanted it bad,” he said.

But a stone-faced LeBron James refused to be drawn on his plans. When asked about his future in the league, he said: “For me personally – I don’t know. I need to sit down and figure this thing out. And so I don’t know as far as me personally right now.”

The current rumor around the NBA is that James is considering changing teams again, possibly joining the Los Angeles Lakers with fresh talent such as Lonzo Ball and hoping to bring along friends such as Carmelo Anthony.

“For me personally, I left everything on the floor every game, all five games. So for me personally I have no reason to put my head down,” he said. “I have no reason to look back at what I could have done or what I shouldn’t have done or what I could have done better for the team.”

The Warriors are poised to dominate the league over the next several years, especially if Kevin Durant agrees to take less money to keep the team together. When asked about Golden State’s dominance, James added:

“They’re going to be around for a while. Pretty much all their guys are in their 20s. Pretty much all their big-name guys are in their 20s, and they don’t show any signs of slowing down. So there’s going to be a lot of teams that’s trying to figure out ways to ... match that if they’re able to actually face them in the playoffs.”

James did, however, say he believed the Cavaliers would try their best to compete. “I know our front office is going to continue to try to put our ball club, put our franchise in a position where we can compete for a championship year in and year out,” James said. “Like I said, teams and franchises are going to be trying to figure out ways that they can put personnel together, the right group of guys together to be able to hopefully compete against this team.”

Kyrie Irving, the second-best player on the Cavaliers, was confident the team can challenge the Warriors again. “I’m pretty sure we’ll be back and we’ll be ready to battle again,” he said, while sharing glowing remarks about James, who became the first ever player to average a triple-double in the finals (33.6 points, 12.0 rebounds and 10.0 assists).

“That’s the type of guy that I want to be with every single time I’m going to war ... If we continue to be with one another and keep utilizing one another, man, the sky’s the limit.”