LeBron James to leave Lakers to play 24th NBA career

LOS ANGELES: LeBron James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, will return for an unprecedented 24th season but not with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Lakers owner Jeanie Buss thanked James in a statement for his eight years with the club, confirming multiple media reports that the 41-year-old superstar had told the team he was leaving.
“LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in history,” Buss wrote in a statement posted on the Lakers’ X account.
“We will always be thankful for his eight years with the Lakers — including the title he led us to in 2020 under the toughest imaginable circumstances and the countless records he broke in purple and gold.”
James’s agent and close friend Rich Paul had told ESPN that James opted to inform the Lakers if he planned to sign with another club before the Tuesday night start of the free agency negotiating period.
“King James” became a free agent after the Lakers’ second-round playoff exit but had not yet confirmed that he would indeed continue one of the most extraordinary careers in league history, with four championships and an unmatched collection of individual records.
As the start of the free agency negotiating period approached James had been linked with a possible return to Cleveland or Miami — both clubs he led to titles — or with a move to join his close friend Stephen Curry on the Golden State Warriors.
James’s unprecedented 23rd NBA campaign got off to a rocky start last year as he missed the first month of the season because of sciatica.
Once fit he again proved remarkably effective, shooting 51.5 percent from the field as he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists in the regular season.
In the playoffs he averaged 23.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists and