LeBron James said at ESPYS that he will play another season for the Los Angeles Lakers in the upcoming season.
The 38-year-old superstar made his intentions on Wednesday night after accepting the record-breaking performance award for becoming the NBA’s career scoring leader.
James had said he wasn’t sure if he would be back during the last season where he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s mark.
James said:
“In that moment I’m asking myself if I can still play without cheating the game. Can I give everything to the game still? The truth is I’ve been asking myself this question at the end of the season for a couple years now. I just never openly talked about it.
“I don’t care how many more points I score or what I can and cannot do on the floor. The real question for me is can I play without cheating this game? The day I can’t give the game everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done. Lucky for you guys that day is not today”.
LeBron James
The crowd let out a huge cheer and James said:
“So yeah, I still got something left. A lot left”.
LeBron James
He was presented his trophy by his wife Savannah, sons Bronny and Bryce, and daughter Zhuri.
In her introductory remarks, Savannah said:
“I think LeBron James is the baddest …”.
Savannah James
James later returned and was joined by Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade to honor Carmelo Anthony, who recently retired after a 19-year career.
Earlier, Chicago White Sox reliever Liam Hendriks told the audience that he pitched much of the 2022 season with non-Hodgkin lymphoma before being diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease.
Hendriks said:
“That was an eye-opener. I didn’t feel too many symptoms but I had some lumps around. It just shows you the power of the mind. When you don’t think anything’s wrong and you believe that you can do anything, you can do anything.
“I was throwing 100 miles per hour while going through Stage 4 lymphoma and then coming back after doing eight rounds of chemotherapy and four rounds of immunotherapy and was able to get out there and throw 96 miles per hour. That isn’t physically who I am. That’s all this, that’s all mental”.
Liam Hendriks
The U.S. women’s soccer team was honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage in its fight to receive equal pay. The players sued U.S. Soccer in 2019 and last year reached an agreement on a deal that splits men’s and women’s pay equally.
Briana Scurry, goalkeeper for the national team from 1994-2008, saluted the 1985 team and said:
“They are the foundation of this entire community of giants”.
Briana Scurry
The Buffalo Bills Training Staff receives award for service
The Buffalo Bills training staff received the Pat Tillman Award for Service, honored for saving the life of safety Damar Hamlin, who went into cardiac arrest at a game in Cincinnati in January. Hamlin has recovered and has plans to play this fall.
The head trainer for the Buffalo Bills, Nate Breske told the audience:
“Damar, first and foremost, thank you for staying alive, brother.
“We’re not used to having the spotlight on us. We were just doing our job, but the idea of service is definitely something that is ingrained in our profession and that we take great pride in”.
Nate Breske
He further said:
“Learn CPR and how to use an AED because they save lives”.
Nate Breske
Patrick Mahomes was honored as the best men’s sports athlete, while skier Mikaela Shiffrin received the women’s sports honor.
Mahomes said:
“It was an incredible season. There were many ups and many downs. I appreciate my teammates, my coaches, the guys that are here. I go back to camp next Tuesday, so this is a great award. But we’re going to do this thing again, we’re going to keep this thing rolling”.
Patrick Mahomes
Shiffrin won her 87th World Cup race in March, breaking the mark set by Ingemar Stenmark for the most such wins by any skier. She went on to win an 88th Cup race, as well as the overall season title.
Shiffrin said:
“This season was absolutely incredible and there was a lot of talk about records and it got me thinking, why is a record actually important? I just feel like it’s not important to break records or re-set records. It’s important to set the tone for the next generation, to inspire them”.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Sports talk host Pat McAfee handled the opening monologue in his first major public appearance since joining ESPN in May.
The show didn’t have its usual celebrity host as a result of the Hollywood writer’s strike. McAfee offered a series of hints that comedian Kevin Hart had been set for the gig but that Hart instead chose to support the Writers Guild of America.
An ESPN spokeswoman said a production team worked with presenters on their introductory remarks. However, the usual pre-taped comedy sketches were absent.
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