We all know that LeBron James‘ career will inevitably come to an end in the coming years, and younger stars dominating the league might be another reason why he might decide to finally hang up his basketball shoes. In a recent interview, the Lakers star made a joke about it, that seems rather serious.
The 40-year-old played many times against Victor Wembanyama in the NBA this past year, even beating him in the Olympic gold-medal match against France. However, the Los Angeles veteran is well aware that it is a matter of time for the young San Antonio center to take his place at the top.
This is why the all-time NBA leading scorer joked about it at the Fanatics Fan Fest, by saying that he won’t be able to continue if Wemby keeps defending so well. “I can’t play that much further… As long as Wemby keeps smacking my f***ing shots into the stands, it’s gonna make me retire,” LeBron said.
The veteran now has an entire summer to prepare for his historic 23rd NBA campaign, but needs all the rest he can get to recover from his left knee injury, which progressively got worse throughout their short-playoff run in April. The Lakers star said his priority is to be 100% healthy by training camp in September.
The 40-year-old recently appeared in an interview with The Associated Press about his appearance in a new commercial called What’s Next? for Amazon, and revealed that he feels “good,” despite spraining a ligament during his season-ending match against the Timberwolves.
The forward veteran emphasized on the importance of maintaining his body to keep performing at his level. “I have a lot of time to take care of my injury, my knee, the rest of my body and make sure I’m as close to 100 percent as possible when training camp begins in late September,” LeBron told the press.
James now has a player option to pick up for next season that should pay him around $56 million, and he praised his family for never pressuring him into retirement. “They’re like, ‘Dad, continue on your dream. This is your dream. Continue on your focus. You’ve been here for us this whole time,’” he revealed.
