When LeBron James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, he took on the challenge of joining a rebuilding franchise that a lot of other stars across the league would not.
Not only did he take on the challenge, but he delivered in just two years as he and Anthony Davis led the Lakers to the organization’s 17th championship in 2020.
After the 2020 season, James actually inked an extension to puts him under contract with the Lakers through the 2022-23 season when he will be 38 years of age.
While James has previously expressed a desire in playing with his son Bronny James if he makes it to the NBA, it appears that will have to be on the Lakers if it’s going to happen.
During an appearance on the “Smartless” podcast, James stated that he wants to finish out his career with the Lakers, H/T Jasmyn Wimbish of CBS Sports:
“I truly hope that I can finish my career with the Lakers,” James said. “However many years that is, if it’s four, five, six, whatever, seven. I hope I can continue to play the game. I love being in L.A., my family loves being in L.A. Being with a historical franchise like the Lakers is something … It’s like me being in “Space Jam” — I never thought it would be possible. You think about Kareem, and Magic, and Wilt, and Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, Kobe, Shaq and all of them. The whole list goes on.”
Even at age 36, James has shown no signs of slowing down as he was one of the favorites for MVP midway through the 2020-21 season before hurting his ankle by being landed on by Solomon Hill.
While that ankle injury essentially cost James the rest of the regular season and he clearly didn’t look like his usual self in the playoffs, having a long offseason now should help him get back to 100%. The Lakers have a lot of decisions to make with their roster this summer but if James and Davis can stay healthy then they should be in the championship mix once again in 2021-22 and beyond.
James switching to No. 6
Another big announcement from James came early in the offseason with him deciding to change from No. 23 to 6.
With him now expressing his desire to finish out his career with the Lakers, it will be interesting to see which of the two numbers, or both, get retired when it’s all said and done.
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