LeBron James Makes Big Announcement About NBA Career During ESPYs

By Brian Jones

LeBron James made an announcement concerning his future in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers star won the ESPY Award for Best Record-Breaking Performance. And during his acceptance speech on Wednesday night, the 38-year-old revealed that he is not retiring and will be back for his 21st NBA season. 

"I don't care how many more points I can score or what I can or can't do on the floor," James said. "The real question for me is, can I play without cheating this game? The day I can't play without giving everything on the floor is the day I'll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today."  

James' announcement comes shortly after the Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. The four-game sweep led to speculation that the four-time NBA champion was going to announce his retirement. "We'll see what happens going forward," James said at the time. "I don't know. I don't know. I've got a lot to think about, to be honest. Just for me personally going forward with the game of basketball, I've got a lot to think about."

James has shown no signs of slowing down after playing in the NBA for 20 years. During the 2022-23 season, the 19-time All-Star averaged 27.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. However, James dealt with injuries last season, leading to him only playing 55 of the Lakers' 82 games last season. The last time James played over 70 games in a season was in 2017-18 when he played in all 82 games in his final year with the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

James won the ESPY for becoming the NBA's all-time scoring leader, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. James has an outside chance of being the NBA's all-time assist leader as he's fourth on the list with 10,420. Along with winning four championships and being named to the All-Star team 19 times, James is a four-time winner of the NBA MVP award and is also a four-time winner of the NBA Finals MVP award. 

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