After signing a new contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James showed that he has not really decided to retire from basketball.
However, the superstar born in 1984 shared something related to the future, which is that he will definitely not participate in the next Olympics taking place in the US in 2028.
Sharing with NBC about the possibility of competing in the 2028 Olympics at home in Los Angeles – USA, James affirmed: “I definitely won’t be there. Olympics coming to Los Angeles? I won’t be there then.”
After a round of laughter with reporters, LeBron seriously replied: “I live in Los Angeles all year round but I won’t be in Los Angeles at the Olympics in 2028.”
This sharing means that LeBron James will not compete in the next Olympics. At that time, James will be 43 years old, at which time it is unlikely that he will still play professional basketball, let alone play for the national team.
Although there is no confirmation from the “owner”, there is a high possibility that this 2024 Paris Olympics will be the last Olympics that LeBron James attends.
At age 39, he will be the oldest American basketball player in history, surpassing Reggie Miller when this legend appeared at the 2002 FIBA World Cup (37 years old).
Along with LeBron James, this year’s US team is also the oldest team in American basketball history with an average age of 30.1. In addition, this is also the first time since 1996 that the US team sent a team with an average age of over 28 to the Olympics.
Paris 2024 will be the fourth Olympics of LeBron’s career. The previous three times took place in 2004, 2008 and 2012. Particularly in 2008 and 2012 were the two Olympics in which the US team won gold medals.
This time, LeBron James will lead a “huge” star line with names like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid or Anthony Davis to Paris, aiming to defend the throne for the American basketball team.
Currently, the US team is in the pre-season friendly phase with 5 matches. After winning the opening two matches against Canada and Australia, the US team will face Serbia in the next match on the evening of July 17.
