Current:Home > NewsLeBron James indicates at NBA All-Star Game intention to remain with Los Angeles Lakers -TradeCircle
LeBron James indicates at NBA All-Star Game intention to remain with Los Angeles Lakers
View
Date:2025-04-16 08:39:11
Editor's note: USA TODAY Sports will provide updates, highlights, analysis, reaction and more from the NBA All-Star Game.
INDIANAPOLIS — As Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James prepared for his NBA record 20th All-Star Game, he acknowledged he is contemplating what the end of his playing career will look like and expressed a desire to finish it with the Lakers.
“I have not mapped out how many seasons I have left. I know it's not that many,” James said when asked by USA TODAY Sports at a news conference Sunday afternoon.
Just before the trade deadline, the Golden State Warriors reached out to the Lakers about James’ availability and were rebuffed on two counts: the Lakers nor James had any interest in a trade.
“I am a Laker, and I am happy and been very happy being a Laker the last six years, and hopefully it stays that way,” James said. “But I don't have the answer to how long it is or which uniform I'll be in. Hopefully, it is with the Lakers. It's a great organization and so many greats. But we'll see.
“I don't know how it's going to end, but it's coming. It's coming, for sure.”
Whether it’s after this season or after a few more seasons, the 39-year-old James, who is a four-time MVP, four-time champion, four-time Finals MVP and the NBA's all-time leading scorer, isn’t sure if he wants an extravagant farewell tour or not one at all.
“I was asked this question a couple days ago: ‘Will you kind of take the farewell tour, or will you kind of just Tim Duncan it?’” James said. “I'm 50-50, I'm going to be honest, because there's times when I feel like I guess I owe it to my fans that have been along this journey with me for two decades-plus, to be able to give them that moment where it's every city and whatever the case may be and they give you your flowers or whatever the case may be. That seems cool.
"But the other side of I've never been that great with accepting like praise. It's a weird feeling for me. I never really talked about it much, but it's just a weird feeling for me. So to go in each city if that's the case – I don't know. I've seen Mike's, I've seen Kobe's. I've seen a lot of guys. I just don't know how I'd feel. I don't know if I'd feel great about it. Maybe the only child in me.”
James was in a reflective mood, as is often the case with him at an event like this.
“As a kid growing up and loving the game of basketball and watching the NBA All-Star Weekend and seeing the Sunday game, I always had dreams and visions if I was able to play the game at a high level and give everything to the game, hopefully I could be a part of that game someday,” he said. “It's just been an absolute honor to be able to grace the floor throughout my career and be out there with the greatest players in the world year in and year out. This is very humbling, very blessed, and it's something I will never forget obviously. It's part of my journey.”
James, whose Lakers are 30-26 and battling for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, made his first All-Star Game in 2005, his second season in the league. Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Grant Hill and Shaquille O’Neal were the other four starters, and his longtime friend Dwyane Wade was a reserve.
He has played in every All-Star Game since.
“You still get that moment where I'm in the locker room looking at Steph (Curry), AD (Anthony Davis), KD (Kevin Durant), Kawhi (Leonard), Joker (Nikola Jokic), Luka (Doncic), all those guys. … So you still have that feeling like, this is pretty cool. “I still at heart and like deep inside, I'm still like that 18-year-old kid that came into this league from Akron, Ohio, which you don't really have many inspirations. You've got to grab it from somebody, and it's usually like a family member or a basketball coach or a football coach or a teacher or somebody like that. It's not many people that make it on TV or make it to doing special things that you think is special.”
James also plans on playing in his fourth Olympics this summer in Paris.
"I told myself before the season when I committed to being a part of the Olympic team, obviously it was all predicated on my health," he said. "As it stands right now, I am healthy enough to be on the team and perform at a level that I knew I could perform at. ... But the one thing I know for sure, I don't have to carry the load. ...
"I'm not sure right now what the full team is going to look like, but from some of the names, I know I don't have to feel any pressure going out there to feel like I have to carry the team. That's going to be a full 12-man roster that's capable of doing it both offensively and defensively on any given night versus any country in the world."
veryGood! (35)
Related
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Federal judge blocks Texas' immigration enforcement law SB 4: Here's what's next
- Trying to Use Less Plastic? These Sustainable & Eco-Friendly Products Are Must-Have Essentials
- Judge upholds decision requiring paternity test of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Man already serving life sentence convicted in murder of Tucson girl who vanished from parents’ home
- Tish Cyrus Shares What Could've Helped Her Be a Better Parent
- Teen charged with killing 2 people after shooting in small Alaska community of Point Hope
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- Mourners to gather for the funeral of a slain Georgia nursing student who loved caring for others
Ranking
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Rhys Hoskins – Brewers' new slugger – never got Philly goodbye after 'heartbreaking' injury
- Scandinavian Airlines medevac plane lands in Malaysian island where Norwegian king is hospitalized
- How scientists are using facial-recognition AI to track humpback whales
- Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
- 'Dune: Part Two' is a grand spice-opera
- South Dakota Republican lawmakers want clarity for the state’s abortion laws. They propose a video
- New York sues beef producer JBS for 'fraudulent' marketing around climate change
Recommendation
What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
Under wraps: Two crispy chicken tender wraps now available at Sonic for a limited time
Montana judge declares 3 laws restricting abortion unconstitutional
Michigan cop’s mistake leads to $320,000 deal with Japanese man wrongly accused of drunken driving
Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
Ex-NFL star Adrian Peterson's trophy auction suspended amid legal battle
Michigan cop’s mistake leads to $320,000 deal with Japanese man wrongly accused of drunken driving
Third person dies from Milwaukee shooting that injured 4