<\/p>\n
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers speaks to the media prior to the 75th NBA All-Star game at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (Keith Birmingham\/Pasadena Star-News\/TNS<\/p>\n
Keith Birmingham<\/p>\n
LeBron James doesn\u2019t know what his future holds. He just wants to live.<\/p>\n
Simple as that, James answered the question, one that comes with the gaggle of press assembled on All-Star Sunday. James may have been more sentimental and visibly emotional while traversing his 23rd season. But no, James said, he hasn\u2019t made a decision about retirement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to live,\u201d James said during his press conference Sunday, the fourth time in his career he has spoken on a separate day than the rest of the All-Stars. \u201cWhen I know, you guys will know. I don\u2019t know. I have no idea. Just want to live \u2013 that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking to a room of press from around the globe, packed like sardines in rows of black-padded chairs in the Los Angeles Clippers\u2019 press conference room, the Lakers star is still focused on the now, the present-day dynamics of a team searching for health as Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and James turn their attention to the final 28 games of the season. The trio has hardly been available at the same time, as the Lakers have hiked to a 33-21 record to currently hold the fifth seed in the Western Conference. Doncic, Reaves and James have played in just 10 games together, and have started and finished just seven of those games on the hardwood at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t state it any more clear \u2013 I mean, not quite sure how many games we\u2019ve had where we\u2019ve had a full roster,\u201d James, 41, said. \u201cOur success is going to come down to, obviously, I think our health. Our coaching staff (is) putting us in the right position. I think they\u2019re going to give us a gameplan every night. But when it comes to what we have to work with, we have to actually go out and see it. \u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t been privy to having that opportunity much this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
James has turned in a league-record 22 consecutive years on an All-Star court. The elder statesman of the NBA is still going, still competing and producing at levels of the league\u2019s young core, recording averages of 22.0 points, 7.1 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. Just Thursday, James became the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double during the Lakers\u2019 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n
Alongside James on Sunday afternoon in Inglewood, a city and arena he made clear represents \u201ca road game\u201d regardless of the Los Angeles branding, 37-year-old veterans Kevin Durant and Steph Curry join the four-time MVP as a All-Star representees of the NBA\u2019s old guard \u2013 a group that has journeyed through triumph and heartbreak in the the NBA Finals, as well as Olympic glory alongside and against one another.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to me, Steph and KD, we\u2019ll be interlocked for the rest of our careers, for sure,\u201d James said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s been great to be able to have some moments with those guys, versus those guys, teaming up with those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Antonio spurs star Victor Wembanyama is in just his second year of All-Star shine. He\u2019s been alive for fewer years than James has dominated the NBA.<\/p>\n
Eventually, James will pass the mantle of stardom and celebrity, over to the 7-foot-4 deviation from the mean of NBA history.<\/p>\n
That, for now, won\u2019t be Sunday. Wembanyama, 22, was asked Saturday if he\u2019d \u201cshed a tear\u201d when James decides to hang up his shoes and bid farewell to basketball.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Wembanyama said, smiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to shed a tear, but it is going to be very weird, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers speaks to the media prior to the 75th NBA All-Star game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,150,736,1407,6,1220,11,1408,24240,6718],"class_list":{"0":"post-612809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-playoffs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","10":"tag-men","11":"tag-national-basketball-association","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-nba-finals","14":"tag-nba-playoffs","15":"tag-nba-teams","16":"tag-seasons-in-american-basketball","17":"tag-seasons-in-american-sport"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116100708603066702","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}