NBA News: Jeanie Buss expects LeBron James to retire as a Laker
LeBron James recently signed a contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite being 37, he is in great shape and Jeanie Buss, the team owner, hopes that he retires with his current team.
The Lakers forward may be in his late 30's, but he's still one of the best players in the league. James is still the Lakers' first choice option when it comes to running their offense, despite Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook playing alongside him.
“It is a big vote of confidence when LeBron James signs a two-year extension, when he had many months to do so. And you know, it was a priority to us," Jeanie Buss said for The Athletic. "It’s a priority to the Laker brand that he retires a Laker.
"We’ll probably enjoy watching him as he approaches becoming the all-time leading scorer in history.”
If everything goes according to plan, the four-time champion will retire as a Laker. However, he wants to win another championship and retire with at least five rings.
Last season, the Los Angeles Lakers were awful. They finished the regular season with only 33 wins and missed the playoffs. However, James was incredible and averaged 30.3 points per game over 56 regular season games. He was also very efficient as he converted 52.4% of his field goals and he tied his career-high 1.1 blocks per game.
If it wasn't for the injuries, LeBron would have probably won the scoring title, which is impressive considering he is 37 years old. The four-time MVP has shown no signs of slowing down and we could see more dominant seasons from him.
LeBron James became eligible for a contract extension on August 4 and signed it two weeks later. Therefore, he will be under contract until the summer of 2025, but will have the option to terminate it in 2024.
LeBron's ultimate goal is to play with his son, Bronny James. The young star will most likely enter the league in 2024 and could possibly team up with his father for one season.
James will soon become NBA's all-time leading scorer
Jeanie Buss pointed out how LeBron James will soon become the NBA's all-time leading scorer. The forward is only 1,326 points away from surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, another Los Angeles Lakers legend.
In 18 out of 19 seasons, LeBron has scored more than 1,500 points. The only exception was the 2020-21 season when he only played 45 games.
2nd all-time in PTS:
LeBron needs exactly 1325 PTS to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
He’ll need to average 16.5 PPG if he plays 80 games and 22 PPG if he plays 60. https://t.co/Prmp0A6GHl
Considering that he will likely play for at least two more years, the two-time Olympic gold champion could become the first player in NBA history to score more than 40,000 career points.