Los Angeles Lakers to Retire LeBron James Jersey on One Condition

• The Los Angeles Lakers will retire LeBron James' jersey only after he makes the Basketball Hall of Fame
• James will be 39 and is closer to retirement, but he recently confirmed he will play in his 21st NBA season
• The Lakers retired Kobe Bryant's No. 8 and 24 jerseys before he made the Hall of Fame

LeBron James calmed the nerves of basketball fans after he refuted claims about his retirement from the NBA. The Lakers superstar had hinted at retirement after the playoffs.

Lakers owner Jeanie Buss revealed that James' jersey will be retired after he makes the Basketball Hall of Fame. The veteran forward is edging toward the end of his career, and he will turn 39 in December.

James' list of accolades is long. He has four NBA championships, four MVP awards and is the league's all-time leading scorer. He has plenty of other individual awards and holds many records, some of which may never be broken.

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The 38-year-old is arguably the best player of all time, so retiring his jersey is a no-brainer. Furthermore, he helped the Lakers win their first title since 2010 min 2020 and led them to the conference finals last season.

Buss on James jersey retirement

Buss, however, said per the Lakers' tradition, James will have to make the Hall of Fame first so that they can retire his jersey, per Lakers tradition.

"The standard for having your jersey retired as a Laker is when a player is inducted into the Hall-of-Fame," Buss said via Sportskeeda. "I have absolutely no doubt that LeBron will make it into the Basketball Hall-of-Fame. When he does so, then we will retire his jersey. Knowing that he will make it into the Basketball Hall-of-Fame, he will have his Lakers jersey retired, no doubt about it."

The 17-time NBA champions will definitely retire his jersey, but it deciding which number to retire will be a headache. The former Cleveland Cavaliers star wore No. 23 in his first three years with the Lakers but changed to No. 6 at the start of the 2021/22 season.

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He recently revealed he will be switching back to the No. 23 jersey for the upcoming season out of respect for the late Bill Russell, per CBS Sports.

LeBron to play in 21st season

Sports Brief earlier reported on James confirming he will play in his 21st NBA season months after he hinted at retirement.

At the ESPYS in Los Angeles, he won the award for Best Record-Breaking Performance for passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. While giving his speech, he shut down the retirement rumors.

"I don't care how many more points I score, or what I can or cannot do on the floor," James said. "The real question for me is: Can I play without cheating this game? The day I can't give everything on the floor is the day I'll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today."