INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — LeBron James has yet to decide whether his unprecedented 23rd NBA season will be his last.
“When I know it, you guys will know it,” James told reporters after arriving at the Intuit Dome for his 21st All-Star Game on Sunday. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I just want to survive. That’s all.”
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James, 41, once again confirmed that he will not participate in the Los Angeles Lakers’ farewell tour this season, despite breaking down in tears during a tribute to his career in Cleveland last month. He also talked multiple times about the importance of enjoying in-season moments with teammates, including his 21-year-old son Bronny.
While he neatly dodged questions about his future this round of the All-Star Game with the same basic answers he’s given for months, James expressed gratitude for another chance to make memories with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on the All-Star stage. The two veteran superstars were scheduled to play together on the U.S. All-Star “Stripes” team before Curry was sidelined with a knee injury, but Curry still attended the game.
“It’s always an honor to meet these guys,” James said. “We had an incredible journey individually in our careers and then intersected at certain points in our careers – regular season matchups, Finals appearances, playoff appearances, and then the Olympics two years ago. When it comes to me, Steph and Durant, we’re definitely going to be connected for the rest of our careers.”
As for career length, James reiterated his regular statement that he hasn’t made a decision yet and is focused on the final 28 games of the regular season with the Lakers, who remain in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race despite facing serious injury issues. James could become a free agent this summer, but he claims he won’t think beyond the task ahead of the Lakers.
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“That has nothing to do with it,” James said. “Same motivation, same mentality. We’ve completed the marathon and now the sprint is about to begin.”
James has said in the past that he hopes to become an NBA owner when his career is over, and the league may soon explore expansion. James has noticed, but his next career move isn’t his focus.
“There’s a lot of things I could take advantage of if I wanted to, and (ownership) is one of them,” James said. “I’m also going to continue to explore other ventures and see what appeals to me and inspires me after my career is over. For now, I’m still focused on what’s going on with our season right now and that’s what’s on my mind.”
James spoke with reporters before Sunday’s game because the league has allowed him to skip All-Star Saturday in recent years. James said Thursday that he plans to spend the extra rest at home recovering from a season that has sidelined him 18 games due to various health issues, including sciatica that kept him out of the Lakers’ first 14 games.
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Yet he still achieved that breakthrough on Thursday, becoming the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double.
The four-time NBA champion, who had the longest career in league history, is still playing at an All-Star level alongside fellow All-Stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves, but the Lakers’ dynamic trio has only played 10 games together this season due to injuries to all three players.
“It’s hard to really tell what we’re capable of,” James said. “I know when we’re playing some of our best basketball of the season, we look really good. On the other hand, when we’re bad, we look sick. So, I think the biggest thing is if we can get healthy, how long we can stay on the floor, how much chemistry we can build at the start of this sprint.”
James missed too many games to qualify for a 22nd All-NBA selection, but he was still selected to the All-Star Game again after missing last year’s game in San Francisco, ending his 20-year streak.
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More than two decades after his first selection to the Eastern Conference All-Star Game, he returns to a game that has transformed into a round-robin game between two teams of American players and a powerhouse representing the rest of the world.
Like Kawhi Leonard and several other All-Stars, James prefers the classics.
“East and West are definitely a tradition,” James said. “It’s really good. Obviously, I like the Eastern and Western formats. They’re trying something. We’ll see what happens. I mean, it’s like America versus the world? The world is bigger than America, and I’m just trying to figure out what the point of that is.”
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