Golfing is a newfound hobby for Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James as many NBA athletes are beginning to take their talents onto the course. Golf serves as a sport for basketball players to get away from all the stressors that come from their league.
At 41-years-old, James knows he does not have much time left in the leg and has begun picking up some new hobbies. Back-to-back Masters champion Rory McIlroy appears to be taking notice of the future Hall of Famer’s progress on the green and would like to play with him one day.
If you are a sock-shoe-sock-shoe person…Rory has some questions for you 🤣 pic.twitter.com/aMYmBfAPvK
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) May 13, 2026
For James, getting a chance to play a round with one of the most decorated golfers would do wonders for his game. McIlroy’s resume speaks for itself as he has six major championships, a career Grand Slam and 30 PGA Tour victories.
The Lakers star now possesses a considerable amount of free time on his hands as he enters the offseason and decompresses from this past season. After a long year, James will definitely tee off several times this offseason before he ramps back up for a potential 24th season.
The four-time champion is an unrestricted free agent this summer, which makes for an important decision regarding his immediate future. Both James and the Lakers have shown interest in continuing their partnership and L.A. does have a lot of noteworthy golf courses and may play an underrated role in him staying put in Los Angeles.
JJ Redick shares how golf has bonded Lakers
When JJ Redick was playing in the NBA, golfing was beginning to take off as veteran players were trying it out. Redick specifically dabbled but opted to spend a considerable amount of his time in media at ESPN and his own personal podcast.
However, there come times when Redick needs to step away and disconnect. A way to do so was to have everyone participate in golf, resulting in team bonding on the green. He shared how he thinks golfing has bonded L.A. through a mentally and physically demanding season.
“It’s a good team bonding thing,” Redick said earlier in the season. “For our team and L.A., I talked about this in a press conference recently, it’s really hard in L.A., I played here and I know it, it’s really hard in L.A. to bond. You live in Manhattan Beach, you live in Calabasas, you live in Westside, whatever. You’re hours sometimes away from your teammates, finding tee times, being with each other for four hours where you can shoot the proverbial s-h-i, whatever and not have to be in a high pressure moment or be on a team bus and be away from the facility, I think it’s great.”
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