NBA superstar LeBron James has been slammed for his ‘needy’ announcement during the ESPY Awards.
James has taken the opportunity to confirm that he will embark upon his 21st season in the NBA, despite there not being too much talk of him retiring at the age of 38.
Needy LeBron?
The superstar announced that he would be continuing his career for at least one more year during the ESPY Awards, saying: “I don’t care how many more points I score, or what I can or cannot do on the floor.
“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.”
While James will have delighted his fans with the announcement, the comments didn’t go down well with some of the NBA’s biggest talking heads.
“I wasn’t waiting for an announcement,” Dan Patrick said Thursday. “I got one. And then ESPN is treating it like it’s breaking news. And I went, ‘You know what’s breaking news? If he retired. Not that he’s coming back. Who thought that he might retire?
“It just … it just is needy, and you don’t need it.”
Patrick wasn’t the only one to criticize the comments, with Colin Cowherd adding during his own show: “How about we make something cool in 2024 and beyond – occasional moment of humility by a pro athlete. I like LeBron. I’m pro-LeBron. [But] … ‘How lucky are we?’ A little cringey.”
James averaged 28.9 points per game across 55 regular season games last season, helping the Lakers make it to the playoffs. The Lakers were ultimately swept by the eventual NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets, in the Western Conference finals.