NEW YORK (AP) — If LeBron James knows where he will play this coming season, he's still not saying.
The NBA's career scoring king and current free agent spoke publicly for the first time in weeks Thursday afternoon, though stopped short of revealing which team he'll choose to play for this fall — despite at least one cry from someone in a jampacked room shouting for him to “pick a team.”
“It’s going to be fun wherever I land," James said.
The four-time
NBA champion was recording an episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast alongside guest co-host Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers in New York on the opening day of Fanatics Fest, a four-day event featuring dozens of athletes, celebrities and sports legends. Single-day general admission tickets were sold out, organizers said, and it's likely that many of those patrons — there were at least several hundred there, phones out to capture the moment — were hoping to hear James' next decision.
Not yet, he said.
“There's no decision,” James said.
Thursday's appearance has been planned for months; it was announced publicly in May. James playfully chided Haliburton for asking him about his future — “didn’t we talk about this in the back?” James asked, and Haliburton said he'd ”leave it alone.”
Of course, they didn't leave it alone. James made reference to a slew of teams such as Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia and Golden State, though didn't appear to give much in the way of hints. He did sip from a bottle of red wine that he opened and shared with Haliburton, calling it one of his podcast traditions.
And when fans shouted out suggestions for James' next team — one even asked him to play for the New York Yankees — no clues were forthcoming.
“We'll see,” he said.
James is the NBA’s oldest active player at 41 and the only player in league history to have a career spanning 23 seasons; this coming season will be his 24th. Speculation has been rampant for more than two months about his future, officially starting in May when the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs.
At that time, James said he didn’t know what he would be doing.
And the only developments that he’s revealed since came on June 30, when he said he would play this coming season and that he was leaving the Lakers after an eight-season run highlighted by the 2020 NBA title.
For more than two weeks, the NBA has been waiting to hear what comes next. James, as he did in a social media post at the time, lauded his time with the Lakers, who also offered him well wishes as he moves forward.
“I spent eight great years with the Los Angeles Lakers,” James said.
James’ resume is beyond compare in NBA history. He’s a 22-time All-Star, a 21-time All-NBA selection, a four-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a three-time All-Star Game MVP, and was a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.
He’s also coming off a season where he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game. For his career, he’s averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.
The podcast was the first of two known speaking engagements for James in New York on Thursday.
He also has an appearance at the Game Plan Summit, an invitation-only event presented by CNBC and Boardroom. James is slated to have a conversation with Boardroom co-founder Rich Kleiman — Kevin Durant's longtime business partner — about “how he’s built an empire beyond basketball, what’s ahead for him in business, and why the next generation of athletes is poised to wield more influence than ever before.”
James started his career in Cleveland in 2003 and spent seven seasons with the Cavaliers before heading to Miami for four seasons — where he won his first two titles. He then returned to Cleveland for four more seasons, leaving in 2018 to start an eight-season run with the Lakers.
Cleveland and Miami are believed to be on James' radar again as he weighs this decision, as are several other teams including Philadelphia, Minnesota and Golden State.
“I’m looking forward to what comes next as I wind down my journey,” James said.
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Reynolds reported from Miami.
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