LeBron James Backtracks Retirement Chatter, Cites Olympic Teammates For Awakening– ‘I Do Have A Lot In The Tank’

Source: Robert Gauthier / Getty

After previously hinting at his imminent retirement, LeBron James has seemingly had a post-Olympics change of heart.

Heading into the 2024-2025 NBA season all eyes are on LeBron James and his new Lakers co-worker, his son Bronny James Jr.

On September 30, the Los Angeles Lakers hosted a media day, and both members of the James gang were present.

According to Yahoo Sports, before their joint interview, LeBron addressed the elephant in the room; his reported forthcoming retirement.

“To go out there at my age, with the miles that I have, and to be able to play at the level I played at, it gave me … even more of a sense of ‘OK, I do have a lot in the tank — a lot,’” said James. “I can help (be) a big part of a team win the ultimate, (whether) it’s gold or a Larry O’Brien Trophy or whatever the case may be. I can still get it done. So that was pretty cool, just from an individual standpoint, to know that you could be out there with the best players in the world and still be able to have a big part of it, not only on the floor, but off the floor too. So that was dope.”

James also said playing with younger NBA players at the Olympics and with Bronny changed his mind about parting ways with the game.

While more senior players usually loathe playing with younger talent, LeBron seems to be treasuring every minute of it.

“The worst interview of the day.”

Bron got jokes for Bronny 😂 pic.twitter.com/RLdeVVUOwy

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 30, 2024

“It’s pretty awesome,” James said. “It gives you a lot of life. It gives you a lot of life, especially when you’re around (other) young guys. I had a lot of this summer, with Ant Man (Edwards) and (the Indiana Pacers’) Tyrese Halliburton and some of the young guys on the team. They give you a lot of energy, a lot of life.”

“It’s a lot of excitement. Just a pure joy.”

LeBron’s looking forward to playing with Bronny 🤝#NBAMediaDay pic.twitter.com/HGrjiuwi6U

— NBA (@NBA) September 30, 2024

King James seems more committed to the game than ever now that Bronny is a Laker, and if this experiment works the sky could be the limit. The only person more excited than LeBron might be the Lakers front office which is racking in the revenue amid James’ dream of playing alongside his son coming true.