LeBron James has won one championship since joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018. LeBron and the Lakers came close to making another NBA Finals appearance this past season before succumbing to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals.
Entering his age-39 season, LeBron hopes to add one more championship to his resume and have at least two rings with the Lakers by the time he ends his career. Yet, according to Jeanie Buss, who was speaking to Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina as part of an exclusive interview, the Lakers will likely retire LeBron’s jersey with or without another championship run.
“The standard for having your jersey retired as a Laker is when a player is inducted into the Hall-of-Fame. I have absolutely no doubt that LeBron will make it into the Basketball Hall-of-Fame,” Buss told Medina. “When he does so, then we will retire his jersey. Knowing that he will make it into the Basketball Hall-of-Fame, he will have his Lakers jersey retired, no doubt about it.”
However, when asked whether the Lakers would retire one of both of LeBron’s jersey numbers, Buss remained coy, noting how “that would be a discussion for another time.”
Jeanie Buss re-lives the night LeBron broke the all-time scoring record 💯🏀#NBA #LeBronJames #JeanieBuss #Lakers@MarkG_Medina @JeanieBuss pic.twitter.com/mwwBnZOkmC
— Sportskeeda Basketball (@Basketball_SK) July 28, 2023
Shortly after the Lakers were eliminated from the 2023 playoffs, LeBron teased the possibility that he may retire. Yet, during a recent appearance at the ESPYs, the superstar forward announced he would be returning for another season.
While there’s no telling how long LeBron has left in the league, there’s a legitimate chance that he could have his jersey retired by three separate franchises to cap off one of the most historic careers in league history.
