No one knows right now what LeBron James will do with his NBA career after this season, except perhaps James himself and Rich Paul, his longtime agent. At the same time, perhaps the man himself has no idea what he wants to do basketball-wise once the 2025-26 campaign concludes.
He has seemingly done it all and established multiple career league records — including the record for most made field goals, which he achieved on Thursday in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets. At this point in his career, the only thing left for him to achieve is to win another NBA championship, especially since he has a poor 4-6 record in the NBA Finals.
Whether this will end up being James’ final season or he ends up playing a couple more, he’s close to retirement. In an exclusive interview with the California Post, he talked about his impending retirement, and among the mini-topics he gave his thoughts on, he talked about how he will feel when his basketball career ends.
“I kind of look at it like when you lose a loved one and you have a funeral,” James told the California Post in an exclusive interview. “People tend to be sad, but it’s also a celebration of life. I think for me, when I’m done with this game, it’ll be a celebration of life and not of loss. It’ll be a celebration of everything I’ve been able to accomplish in this game, everything I’ve put into it. The moments, all the love.”
Retirement is a hugely monumental event for just about anyone, and it ranks up there with going away to college, graduating from college and the birth of one’s children. As the end approaches, people tend to become concerned with how they will be remembered, and James didn’t hesitate to talk about how he wants to be remembered as a basketball player.
“I didn’t cheat the game,” James told the California Post. “Listen, I’ve dedicated to this sport. I’ve never cheated the game. I’ve showed up every day on time. I’ve put my work in both on the court, off the court. Just showed grace. That’s what it’s about.
“I’ve just wanted to maximize and squeeze everything I could out of the game because I understood what it gave me, my family and everything. So I was never going to disrespect the game gods. Hopefully there are some highlights in there between my years I’ve played this game. But I never cheated the game. Ever.”
While the 41-year-old’s numbers are down a bit this season, he’s still averaging 21.4 points on 50.4% field-goal shooting, 5.6 rebounds and seven assists a game. He may be holding back and picking his spots more than ever, but he has still been spry enough to throw down rim-rattling dunks on a regular basis.
The Lakers hold a good-but-not-great 38-25 record and are in sixth place in the Western Conference right now. There has been endless speculation for at least the last eight months that he will leave the Lakers after the end of this season, perhaps to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a third stint there.
But regardless of how it all ends for him, James said he wants it to end with him doing one thing in particular.
“Me smiling,” he said. “That’s the best way I know for sure that I’ve gotten the most out of it.”
There will surely be a higher chance of him smiling when he walks off a basketball court for the last time if he adds one more NBA championship ring to his collection.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James on how he wants his NBA career to be remembered
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
