Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – LeBron James has no clue if he will play beyond this season, his record 23rd in the NBA, but the superstar has some projects in mind for his retirement days. The 41-year-old Los Angeles Lakers forward spoke Sunday ahead of the NBA All-Star Game, saying his playing future beyond this season remains uncertain.
“Yeah, I want to live,” James said of his post-season plans. “When I know, you guys know. I don’t know. I have no idea. I just want to live, that’s all.” James, the NBA’s all-time scoring leader and a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, said the uncertainty about his future will not impact his efforts to spark the Lakers to the NBA title, which would be a fifth for “King James” in his landmark career.
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“This is beginning towards the post-season so it has nothing to do with that,” James said. “Same motivation, same mind factor. We’ve got past the marathon and now the sprint is about to start. I think everybody understands that.” James has averaged 22.0 points, 7.1 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals a game this season for the Lakers, who rank fifth in the Western Conference at 33-21.
After battling sciatica at the start of the campaign, James says health will be a crucial factor for the Lakers in the remainder of a campaign that has seen star Luka Doncic and others battling injuries. “Our success is going to come down to obviously I think our health, our coach staff putting us in the right position,” James said. “I think they’re going to give us the game plan every night. But when it comes to what we have to work with, we have to actually go out and see it. We haven’t been able to have an opportunity much this year.”
James has already mentioned that he would like to become an NBA team owner when his playing days are done, but that’s far from his only post-playing pursuit. “There’s a lot of things that I have on the table that I can tap into if I would like to, that being one of them,” James said of NBA team ownership. “There’s other ventures as well I’ll continue to explore and see what will engage me and motivate me in a post-career. But right now I’m still locked in on what’s going on right now.”
Whatever James will be doing in the next 10 to 15 years, expect it to be memorable. “I think what I want to do at 45, 50 or 55 will be a lot of creating great vibes and fun with my family and my friends. That’s one of my passions, great memories that will last forever,” James said. “For sure, that’s the most important for me, creating things that we will never, ever forget. My family and my friends, I’m looking forward to that.”
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