Jeanie Buss says Lakers will eventually retire LeBron James' jersey
Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss knows LeBron James isn't ready to retire yet, but she's already decided that the team will retire his jersey in the future.
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda, Buss said that James' status as an all-time great makes his jersey retirement a foregone conclusion — though it will have to happen after he's inducted into the Hall of Fame.
"The standard for having your jersey retired as a Laker is when a player is inducted into the Hall of Fame," Buss told 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."
Buss wants James to retire with the Lakers, but even if he chooses to leave after the 2023-24 season (he has a $50 million player option for 2024-25), that won't change anything. James, who led the Lakers to an NBA title during the bubble season in 2020, will still have his jersey retired.
"It would mean a lot," Buss said. "But it won’t change his contributions to Lakers history. It’s great if he retires as a Laker. That’s the ultimate thing because a player like Shaquille O’Neal has meant so much to Lakers history, but he wasn’t a Laker when he retired from the NBA. But that didn’t change what his part of Lakers history was. When he retired from the NBA, we retired his Lakers jersey."
James is changing his jersey number from No. 6 to No. 23 this season in recognition of Bill Russell, whose jersey and No. 6 were retired league-wide following his death in July 2022. Buss said the conversation about which of James' jerseys will be retired is "for another time."
Buss was asked to comment about James' family and his son, Bronny, who went into cardiac arrest on Monday and was rushed to the hospital. She declined, stating that she would "defer to the request the James family made and am giving them their time to be together as a family."
Bronny has been discharged from Cedars-Sinai and is home recuperating with his family. On X, James expressed his gratitude to all those who kept his son in their prayers.
I want to thank the countless people sending my family love and prayers. We feel you and I’m so grateful. Everyone doing great. We have our family together, safe and healthy, and we feel your love. Will have more to say when we’re ready but I wanted to tell everyone how much your…
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 27, 2023
