NBA legend LeBron James has quashed retirement talk as he gets set for record-extending 24th season having signed with the Philadelphia 76ers this summer.
James will begin his expected final chapter at his inaugural camp with the 76ers.
He made the NBA world wait a few weeks before announcing his decision over the summer to join to Philadelphia on a two-year $8m (£6m) contract with a player option for next season.
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LeBron James has stunned the basketball world once again by announcing he’s signed for the Philadelphia 76ers, a franchise that hasn’t won an NBA title in 43 years.
If James wins a title in Philadelphia, the 76ers would be the fourth franchise to become champions with him on the roster.
James won two championships in Miami, one in Cleveland and one with the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I’m not going to speak to the future right now; I’d be doing myself a disservice,” James said at the Sixers’ media day.
“I’m just living in the moment, especially knowing where I am in my career.
“Me trying to focus on what my future looks like, I wouldn’t be giving myself grace. I’m more in the present now, understanding that I’m in year 24… I just like being in the moment, and we’ll see what happens.”
And if that Philly title happens, it would give Joel Embiid his first ring – which is part of James’ motivation.
“I didn’t leave my family (in Los Angeles) to lose in the second round,” said James, who will turn 42 in December. “I know that for sure. Work needs to be done and I’m ready to get to work.”
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Here’s a look back at the 22-time All-Star’s best career plays…
Much as James did for Cleveland when he ended a 56-year championship drought for the city by leading the Cavaliers to the title in 2016, he’s in Philadelphia largely to help snap a championship drought for the Sixers that stretches to 1983.
The Sixers went 45-37 last season and were swept in the second round by the eventual champion New York Knicks.
“Understand that the noise is going to be the noise,” James said. “What happens outside of this building is going to consistently happen, and it’s going to be doubled and triple and quadrupled down on you. It just comes with the territory. I understand it.
“I think the luxury of my game is, I can do everything. Literally, I can do everything.”
James, Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and the other new star Sixers player, Jaylen Brown, were all on hand for media day ahead of the start of training camp and what figures to be the most anticipated season in Philly since Julius Erving’s heyday.
“I hope that I can bring that experience, bring that knowledge, bring the blueprint to the guys that’s trying to accomplish some things that they haven’t done in their career,” James said.
“I’ve seen everything that this league has to offer on the floor and off the floor, so I hope that every single day with my approach to the game, approach to the work, that it can translate to every single guy.”
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