Lakers talisman LeBron James rules out retirement talk with his speech at the ESPY awards

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James won the Best Record-Breaking Performance of the Year award at the 2023 ESPY awards. While he stepped up to the stage to collect the award, he spoke about a wide array of things in his acceptance speech.

He started with his love for the game of basketball and how he will continue to love the game no matter what. He then also assured his fans that he will never cheat while playing the game and approach it with the right mentality always.

Lastly, LeBron opened up on his thoughts on retirement and revealed that he has been pondering the idea and asking a few questions to himself to decide whether to retire or not. He shared that he will retire from the sport when he will feel that he can’t give everything on the court anymore.

“When the season ended, I said I wasn’t sure if I was gonna keep playing,” James said. “In that moment, i’m asking myself if I can still play. Can I give everything to the game still? Truth is, I’ve been asking myself this question for a couple of years now.”

“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,” he added.

While LeBron James sticking around for a few more years sounds nice for the sport and also for the Lakers, he needs to play to his strengths and make amends to his gameplay. There are a lot of questions about the talisman’s gameplay as he is turning 39 this December.

LeBron has shown signs of ageing as he has not been that agile in moving to and fro from one end of the court to the other. Also, last season he attempted more jump shots than driving into the paint, which also indicates his increasing age.

However, all this does not mean that King James will not be able to put up efficient numbers. Last season, he averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists, shooting 50% from the field. His stats have not taken a hit from the previous and considering the work that he does on his technical ability, one can expect another similar stat line for the upcoming season.

With plenty of supporting cast already acquired in the offseason, the Lakers are ready to roll for yet another exciting season. They will need LeBron’s leadership and big-game mentality to win the NBA Championship next season.