June 30 (Reuters) – LeBron James thanked the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday for allowing him to wear the storied team’s purple and gold colours after the NBA club wished “one of the greatest athletes in history” all the best in his impending free agency.
The four-time NBA champion and league’s all-time leading scorer has spent the last eight seasons of his glittering career with the Lakers, leading them to a title in 2020 during the COVID pandemic after two separate stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and four years with the Miami Heat.
“No, THANK YOU!” James said on social media in response to a Lakers post that wished him all the best.
“Truly an honor to wear the (Lakers colours) while trying to continue the greatness & legacies that came before me! Hope I made a few proud during my stint.”
Where James plays next is now the most compelling storyline of the NBA’s free agency period, which opens later on Tuesday.
The 41-year-old, who last March surpassed Robert Parish’s record for most career regular-season games played, has continued to perform at an elite level despite his age.
Last February, he earned a league-record 22nd consecutive All-Star selection.
“LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in history,” Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss said in a post that James responded to. “We will always be thankful for his eight years with the Lakers, including the title he led us to in 2020 under the toughest imaginable circumstances, and the countless records he broke in purple and gold.
“We wish him all the best in the future, both on the court and off. He will always be a cherished part of the Lakers family.”
FATHER-SON DUO
In a testament to his durability, James and his son Bronny became the first father-son duo to play together in a regular-season NBA game in October 2024, fulfilling what he had long said was one of his remaining basketball goals.
James, a four-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, joined the Lakers in 2018.
He was selected with the first pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by his hometown Cavaliers, where he spent seven seasons before announcing during a live TV special titled “The Decision” that he was leaving for Miami.
The announcement damaged James’ public image and led to many people burning his replica No. 23 jerseys on Cleveland’s streets that night.
In Miami, James teamed up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to create an instant powerhouse that won two NBA titles during their four seasons together in South Beach.
James then returned to Cleveland and in 2016 rallied the team from a 3-1 series deficit in the NBA Finals to stun the Golden State Warriors and make good on his promise to deliver the Cavaliers their first championship.
Two years later, James again left his hometown team, where he remains the franchise leader in nearly every major statistical category, to join the Lakers, where for the first time he played in the NBA’s Western Conference.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Rod Nickel and Ken Ferris)
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