LeBron James says he has “a lot to think about” after the Los Angeles Lakers were knocked out of the NBA play-offs by the Denver Nuggets.

It leaves the Lakers without a trophy for the third consecutive season, while James’ post-game comments have fuelled talk he could be set to retire.

“We’ll see what happens going forward. I don’t know,” said James, 38.

“I’ve got a lot to think about to be honest.”

The star forward is arguably the biggest name in the sport after 20 seasons in the league, during which time he has set numerous records.

The four-time NBA champion won two titles with the Miami Heat before leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the only NBA title in their history in 2016.

He then guided the Lakers to the 2020 crown – the fourth time he was named Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP).

The two-time Olympic champion has also won four regular season MVP titles and appeared in the NBA Finals 10 times.

In February, he became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s long-standing record of 38,387, set in 1989.

But after Monday’s defeat, in which he scored 31 points in the first half and finished with 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, he described the season as “challenging”.

“I don’t know. I think it was OK. I don’t like to say it’s a successful year because I don’t play for anything besides winning championships at this point in my career,” he said.

“I don’t get a kick out of making a conference [finals] appearance. I’ve done it, a lot. And it’s not fun to me to not be able to be a part of getting to the Finals.

“For me, it’s all about availability for me and keeping my mind sharp and things of that nature, being present on the floor, being present in the locker room and bus rides and plane rides, things of that nature. It’s challenging.

“But we’ll see. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens going forward.”

James signed a two-year contract extension with the Lakers last August that would keep him at the club through the 2024-2025 season.

He has long said that he wants to extend his career in order to play with or against his eldest son Bronny, who will play college basketball next season at the University of Southern California and who could conceivably enter the NBA in time for the 2024-2025 campaign.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newsday programme, The Athletic’s LA Lakers reporter Jovan Buha said James was “definitely hinting” at retirement.

“It was unprompted LeBron. He was asked to reflect on his season from an individual perspective and then he trailed off to ‘we will see’ and ‘I have a lot to think about’,” said Buha.

“It was definitely hinting at retirement even if he didn’t say it outright. I think it’s really surprising because everything we have heard over the last year has been the opposite, where the talk has been about LeBron playing multiple years from now.

“Obviously he wants to play with or against his son Bronny James, who is going to USC and trying to make the NBA, so for LeBron to be saying that really came as a shock to many people.

“I don’t think he’s going to retire. There is so much evidence to the contrary that to me, maybe this was just a moment where he was venting and sharing his thoughts in real time.”