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The NBA's all-time leading scorer, James is
almost certain to receive the same honor with the Cleveland
Cavaliers and Miami Heat whenever he hangs up his sneakers.
Buss confirmed that James' number will go up in the rafters
alongside Lakers legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and
Kobe Bryant.
"The standard for having your jersey retired as a Laker is when
a player is inducted into the Hall of Fame. I have absolutely no
doubt that LeBron will make it into the Basketball Hall of
Fame," Buss said in an interview published Friday with
Sportskeeda.
"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."
The question for the Lakers will be which number -- or both, as
they did with Bryant (Nos. 8 and 24). James wore No. 23 when he
led Los Angeles to its 17th NBA title in 2019-20. He switched to
No. 6 for the past three seasons, but said he is reverting to
No. 23 in 2023-24 out of respect to the late Bill Russell. The
NBA has retired No. 6 league-wide to honor Russell.
"That's a discussion for another time," Buss said.
James, 38, averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists in
55 games (54 starts) last season. He has averaged 27.4 points,
8.1 rebounds and 8.0 assists in 278 games (277 starts) in five
seasons with the Lakers.
--Field Level Media
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