CONTACT US

Contact Form

    News Details

    Lakers’ LeBron James is not retiring, will return for 21st NBA season
    • July 13, 2023

    Lakers star LeBron James confirmed he won’t be retiring from the NBA and will be returning for his 21st season, though few ever believed his playing days might be over.

    After winning an ESPY for the best record-breaking performance for breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA career scoring record, James made the expected announcement Wednesday that he isn’t done playing.

    “Can I give everything to the game still? The truth is, I’ve been asking myself this question at the end of the season for a couple years now, I just never openly talked about it,” James said during his acceptance speech at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. “I don’t care how many more points I score. Or what I can or can not do on the floor. The real question for me is, ‘Can I play without cheating the game?’

    “The day I can’t give the game everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done. Luckily for you guys, today is not that day.”

    James cryptically hinted at considering retirement in late May in the aftermath of the Lakers being swept by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals.

    But most assumed he would return for at least one more season.

    The four-time league MVP posted a series of pictures of the players the Lakers re-signed or signed after free agency started on his Instagram story earlier in the month.

    “It was also nice to just see him celebrate the roster, once we completed it,” Lakers GM Rob Pelinka said last weekend in Las Vegas. “A series of Instagram posts and different things, celebrating his teammates. And that’s just the leader LeBron is. He knows how to galvanize a group and bring them together and we’re just excited that he’s behind that.”

    James, who will turn 39 on Dec. 30, is entering the first season of a two-year, $99 million contract extension he signed with the team last summer. He has a player option for 2024-25.

    ​ Orange County Register 

    News