LeBron James envisions a future for the Lakers and the NBA: “My career…”

The partnership between LeBron James, lakers It is NBA will continue in 2023/24. With another year in his contract with the Los Angeles team and the possibility of extending it until 2025, the greatest scorer in history will not retire for “lucky you”. In a strong statement during the “ESPYS” awards, the star confirmed that he will not abandon basketball and that he can still give his all within the courts of Crypto.com Arena.

“I’m here speaking for myself now: At that point, I was wondering if I could play the game without cheating. Could I give everything for the game yet? The truth is, I’ve been asking myself this question at the end of the season for a few years now, I just haven’t spoken openly about it. I don’t care how many more points I score, what I can or can’t do within a court. The real question for me is ‘can I play without cheating?’. The day I can’t give it my all for playing on the court will be the day my career ends. Lucky for you, that day is not today.“, he stated.

LeBron James’ statement took everyone by surprise. Somehow, the star player was not expected to speak openly about his retirement. He explained the strong response he gave regarding his future and assured that that outburst had already been reflected for a few seasons. The Lakers’ loss to the Nuggets in the NBA Western Conference Finals was just a flashpoint for him to vent.

“I want to use this moment to talk about something I’ll never get tired of talking about. I love this game. I love basketball. There’s a video running on the internet of me coaching Bryce’s team (LeBron’s son), it’s even funny. I’ve seen a lot of people talking about how LeBron brings the same energy to a high school game that he would to the NBA Finals, and for me, that’s the highest compliment possible. In my 20 years of playing this game in the NBA and beyond, I’ve never cheated. I never took things for granted. Every time I set foot on a court, whether coaching my boys or playing, I left everything“, he explained.

“I did it for myself, for my colleagues and for all the giants that came before me. Most importantly, I do it for the fans, the lovers of the game. You can love me, and I know some people hate me too (laughs), but one of the things you’ll always do is respect and appreciate the way I treated the game, what I gave for this game. When the season ended, I said I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to play.”continued before finalizing that everyone can expect the best LeBron James for the next NBA season.

You know what brings me back every year. It is to watch and train my children. It’s in these games that I remember the true purpose: the pure love of the game. So yes, I still have something left. Plenty left over. I love you, thank you“, he completed.