Lakers owner wants to see LeBron James retire a Laker

LeBron James clearly has a few more NBA years left in him. He signed a two-year extension with the Los Angeles Lakers in August and made it known that his goal is to play with both his sons to end his career.  

At 37 years old, James hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down, averaging 30.3 points per game in 2021, the second-highest average of his career. 

But James has played for three different organizations in his career, kicking off the “player empowerment” era in 2010 when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. 

He has no qualms about changing teams, making his future with any franchise somewhat uncertain.

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The Lakers are hopeful that James has found his final team as his playing career winds down, with owner Jeanie Buss saying she hopes James retires in Los Angeles. 

“With LeBron, we have a line of communication between the two of us, and he knows that he can reach me any time and vice-versa,” Buss said on “The Crossover” podcast when asked about their relationship. “And I think he feels appreciated.

“I know I appreciated that he signed an extension to stay here and continue to lead the Laker team. He’s a fantastic leader both on and off the court, and I feel like we’re blessed to have him as a Laker. I want to see him retire as a Laker.”

While James has racked up accolades during his career, there is still one more for him to check off in his quest to be considered the greatest NBA player of all time. 

James is second on the all-time scoring list, just 1,325 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He’ll more than likely break the record during the 2022-2023 season, doing so in a Lakers uniform. 

“We have something that is coming up, which is he will probably become the all-time leading scorer in the history of the NBA,” Buss said. “Which would break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record. Which, I’ll never forget when he did that and Chick Hearn said, ‘This is a record that will never be broken.’

“And here we are, somebody who is going to break it in a Laker uniform. And that has a lot of meaning to the organization and to me personally.”

The Lakers are coming off of a disastrous season, missing the playoffs for the second time since James arrived in LA.