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Days After Witnessing Son’s Heartbreaking News, 38-Year-Old LeBron James Receives One of the Biggest News of His Lakers Career

Published 07/28/2023, 12:28 PM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

There has been a silver lining in The King LeBron James‘s life, days getting rattled by his son’s cardiac arrest. His 18-year-old son Bronny James fell unconscious during a workout session at the Galen Center. The prompt medical response saved the golden hours for the USC freshman. Nevertheless, the event unsettled the all-time great prompting who’s who of the sports and non-sports world to pray for his family. Following the nightmarish episode, James has now received once-in-a-lifetime retirement news.

The biggest update came from the Lakers for whom LeBron James has already played 5 seasons. Before the start of the new season, The King arguably received one of the greatest honors of his career.

Lakers Hail The King LeBron James

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In a recent interview, the LA Lakers governor Jeanie Buss talked about retiring James’ jersey as one of the Lakers’ legends. She says once The Chosen One is inducted into the Hall of Fame, they will retire his jersey.

via Imago

“When he does so, then we will retire his jersey,” Buss said. “Knowing that he will make it into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he will have his Lakers jersey retired, no doubt about it.”

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Interestingly, James wore 2 jerseys in his Lakers tenure so far – No.6 and No.23. When asked about retiring both of James’ jerseys, Buss said it’s “a discussion for another time.” Both numbers have been significant for his career with the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers. After playing with No. 6 for a couple of seasons, he soon broke the NBA scoring record. It was then James decided to switch back to No. 23, a number he has been married to since high school.

LeBron grew up idolizing Michael Jordan. To live up to the potential of a gifted MJ, the then-rookie chose to don the His Airness’s #23 jersey right from his high school. At one point in high school, as he represented The Fighting Irish (St. Vincent-St. Mary men’s basketball team), LeBron excelled wearing the jersey number. And the love affair has continued ever since!

It is worth mentioning that the Lakers retired both of Kobe Bryant’s jerseys (8 and 24) back in 2017. So far, the franchise has retired the jerseys of 12 different players. Recently, the Lakers honored Pau Gasol by retiring his No. 16 jersey. Buss has not confirmed which of James’s of the two jerseys will be retired to the rafters but she knows it will happen at some point after LeBron retires. And why not, after all!

James ended the drought that followed the Lakers for 1o years!

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Since joining the Lakers in 2018, James has cemented his place as one of the greatest to don the purple and gold jersey. In his second season, he won the championship, which was the Lakers’ 17th trophy. Moreover, the Los Angeles-based franchise won the title after 10 long years with their previous championship coming in 2010.

Apart from that, The King also broke Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s all-time scoring record as a Laker last season. The feat was an immense honor for the franchise. In his five seasons with the Lakers, James averages 27.4 PPG, 8.0 APG, and 8.1 RPG. The stats themselves speak for greatness.

USA Today via Reuters

And now as James is heading to his 21st season, it will be interesting to see if the Lakers consider retiring both of James’ jerseys. The Akron Hammer has already announced that he will not wear the No. 6 jersey in the upcoming season out of respect for Bill Russell. So, will it be No. 23?

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Watch This Story: Hours after LeBron James’ son suffered a cardiac arrest, ex-WWE personality’s controversial remark has left the fans divided 

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Written by:

Debkinkar Maity

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Debkinkar Maity is an NFL Writer at EssentiallySports. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from a premier institution. He specializes in covering a wide range of themes, including trade updates and fan reactions, among others.
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Edited by:

Saumya Khanduja