I love LeBron James. He’s one of the most incredible, jaw-dropping athletes I’ve ever seen in my life. But did anyone really think that he planned on retiring?
While at the 2023 ESPYS, James accepted the award for Best Record-Breaking Performance for passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. After accepting the award from his wife, Savannah, and their three children, Bronny, Bryce, and Zhrui, King James shared some words with the crowd.
He said, “I don’t care how many more points I score or what I can or cannot do on the floor. The real question for me is: Can I play without cheating this game? The day I can’t give everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today.”
Nice try LeBron, but nobody in the sports world with a brain truly thought you were about to walk away from the game of basketball. Maybe I will one day when you look old and aren’t able to do the things you normally do on a basketball court.
But nobody in their right mind thought you were going to leave after you just finished putting up 40 points in what would’ve been your final game as an NBA player. You’re still too freaking good at hoops.
Outside of his play on the court, Bron is too into himself to walk away without everyone in the sports world doing a year-round farewell tour for him (and that’s not a slight). If I was one of the greatest and most prolific athletes in the history of American sports, you damn right I’m going to have a farewell tour with the entire country acknowledging and praising my excellence.
Plus, if LeBron announced that he wasn’t going to return for the 2023-2024 NBA season, best believe every Laker fan in the world would’ve been coming for his neck. They just had a hell of an off-season and brought back many of the assets that made them a contender last playoffs, there’s no way Lakers execs make those moves if they don’t have assurances that LeBron is returning to the team.
So while I’m happy you gave the sports world a heads up, we really didn’t think you were walking away.