Lakers’ LeBron James altering jersey quantity from No. 6 to No. 23
LeBron James is altering his jersey quantity but once more.
The Lakers star might be returning to No. 23, the quantity he wore his first three seasons in Los Angeles, after he sported No. 6 the previous two seasons.
“It is LeBron’s choice,” his agent, Wealthy Paul, told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
The NBA final August announced it would be retiring No. 6 league-wide in honor of Invoice Russell, the trailblazing civil rights champion and Boston Celtics legend who received 11 NBA titles. Gamers who had been already sporting No. 6, resembling James, might proceed to take action. However James, himself one of many best gamers in NBA historical past, is now making the change again to No. 23 “out of respect for Invoice Russell,” per Paul.
James had indicated to ESPN in September that he was considering a change after the 2022-23 season, however mentioned sporting No. 6 for yet one more marketing campaign “means rather a lot to me.”
He returns to No. 23, the quantity he wore when he broke into the league with the Cleveland Cavaliers as the primary decide within the 2003 NBA draft. The NBA’s all-time main scorer switched to No. 6 when he joined the Miami Warmth in 2010, however returned to No. 23 for his second stint in Cleveland beginning in 2014. When he joined the Lakers in 2018, he stored No. 23 earlier than switching again to No. 6 in 2021.
Contributing: Jeff Zillgitt