Los Angeles Lakers star and four-time NBA champion LeBron James won the ESPY for best record-breaking performance during Wednesday night’s award show.
The all-time great took to the podium for his acceptance speech and broke some news in the process.
After flirting with retirement earlier this summer, James announced that he’ll return for a 21st season and sixth with the Los Angeles Lakers.
“The day I can’t give the game everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today,” James said.
With everything the Lakers did during NBA free agency, it was a foregone conclusion that James would return for another season. However, he had not yet made it official.
Following Los Angeles’ four-game sweep at the hands of the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, James openly contemplated retirement. Though, that was more about just ending a grueling season and dealing with a foot injury that bothered him throughout the playoffs.
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LeBron James to return to the Los Angeles Lakers
By virtue of this announcement, James is indicating that he’s running it back with the Lakers for another season.
They had a successful free agency period, re-signing Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura. The Lakers also brought in the likes of Cam Reddish, Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince and Jaxson Hayes during NBA free agency. They are legitimately one of the top title contenders heading into the 2023-24 season. As for James, he just continues to play at an extremely high level despite the King’s advanced age of 38.
- LeBron James stats (2022-23): 28.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 6.8 APG, 50% shooting
With no signs of slowing down, it would not be a surprise if James played beyond next season. It will be all about how his body holds up as he made clear Wednesday night.