LeBron James wants to spend his final year in the NBA playing on a team alongside his son Bronny, according to an interview with The Athletic published on Saturday.
The four-time NBA champion, in Cleveland for this weekend’s All-Star Game, is not interested in accepting a discount after his current contract with the Los Angeles Lakers expires but said in the report he would make an exception.
“My last year will be played with my son,” James said in the report. “Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It’s not about the money at that point.”
The younger James is a point guard playing high school basketball and, based on current rules, would be eligible to be drafted by an NBA team in 2024, when LeBron will be 39.
James, whose contract with the Lakers runs through the 2022-23 NBA season, has averaged a team-high 29.1 points per game this season.
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant will not attend Sunday's NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland following the death of his grandmother, Barbara Davis, earlier in the day.
Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell was also a late scratch for the All-Star Game due to a non-Covid illness.
Durant was one of two honorary coaches for the game, selecting a team opposite LeBron James. The 12-time All-Star was already going to sit out the game due to a knee sprain.
Durant was also set to be honoured Sunday as one of the NBA's 75 greatest players of all time in a ceremony to mark the league's 75th anniversary. He will miss the ceremony to be with his family.
Mitchell was slated to play in Sunday's game in Cleveland as a reserve for Team LeBron. It was Mitchell's third career All-Star selection.
"It is a great honor and has always been a dream of mine to be selected as an NBA All-Star," Mitchell said in a statement.
"Remorsefully, I will not be able to play in tonight's All-Star Game due to an upper respiratory illness (non-Covid-related). The entire All-Star weekend is a celebration of the basketball community, the fans, and the sport I am blessed to play. I'm focused on getting well and back out on the court."
Mitchell missed Saturday's All-Star practice due to the illness.
The Utah star is averaging 25.7 points, 5.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 46 games this season, his fifth in the NBA.
