With LeBron James confirming he’ll return for Year 21, the Los Angeles Lakers can begin to prepare in earnest for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
The Lakers enter the new season with championship aspirations, a far cry from last year when there were serious questions about them even making the playoffs. James will once again be counted upon to lead Los Angeles, and he should be in a much better position to do so after the front office retained their core and added more depth and talent to the roster.
The King has already led the purple and gold to one title during his tenure with the storied franchise which begs the question of whether or not he’ll get a statue in front of Crypto.com Arena when he decides to hang his sneakers up. Lakers legend James Worthy weighed in and believes he’ll have a shot to get statues in both Cleveland and Los Angeles, although he hasn’t done enough for the latter just yet, via TMZ:
“It depends on what he does here out,” Worthy said. “Personally — and I think he’d agree — he hasn’t been here long enough.”
“But I think his overall greatness, when you have a player like LeBron, who breaks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s [all-time scoring] record in Los Angeles, does it as a Laker, then wins a championship as a Laker, you can’t argue that he could get a statue in Los Angeles.”
“And he could get one in Cleveland as well,” Worthy added. “So, I don’t know about Miami, but bringing one to Cleveland and Los Angeles, it’s doable, in my opinion.”
James earning a statue in Cleveland is a certainty considering he led them to their first professional sports championship since the Cleveland Browns won the NFL title in 1964. James powered the Cavaliers to a thrilling Game 7 victory over the Golden State Warriors in perhaps the greatest series he’s played to date.
As far as Los Angeles goes, another title would solidify his status among the Lakers greats though that will be a tall task given the state of the Western Conference. Perhaps the organization has already deemed him worthy of a statue, but James would make it a no-brainer if he can somehow raise banner No. 18.
LeBron James changing jersey back to No. 3 out of respect for Bill Russell
The NBA honored the late Bill Russell by retiring his No. 6 jersey across the league. Players like James were allowed to continue wearing No. 6 since they had been donning it already, but the Lakers star is making the switch back to No. 23 next season out of respect for Russell.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
