LeBron James' Retirement
Everyone knows who LeBron James is; a famous basketball player, the star in the new Space Jam movie, and an overall nice person. Like with all things, his career may be nearing its end. Rumors say that after he breaks the all-time scoring record, currently held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at 38,387 throughout the 20 seasons, he may transition to the NFL. Since Jabbar retired in 1989, Lebron James could be the next person to have the mantle of the best shooter in the NBA, but what next?
Football always was and still is a passion of LeBron's. He knows Tom Brady well, as both a friend and competitor. Tom Brady, 45, is a Quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He retired not too long ago but recently returned to the NFL to play another season. After that, no one knows what he is going to do. There was an episode of “The Shop”, where Tom Brady appeared with LeBron. Understandably, Tom was nervous. Paul Rivera, a co-creator of “The Shop”, saw Tom Brady with a nervous expression on his face. He never expected Tom Brady to be nervous, especially since he calls Brady “the G.O.A.T.” (the greatest of all time).
LeBron is 38 years old and is still playing basketball. For basketball, 38 is not exactly old, but it definitely isn't young. The fact that LeBron keeps up with the pace of young basketball players is impressive. Tom Brady, on the other hand, is old for his vocation. Those who watch football can see that Brady's pace has slowed down over the years. Brady has been lucky to have such a long-lasting and successful career. Many people think that Brady should go out on a high note and retire now while he's still healthy and successful. However, if he keeps playing and moving around at the pace of the younger players, he could extend his career for a few more years. LeBron also sees his age of continuing passed the year of 40 competition since he can keep going in basketball for a bit and then just head to football. He is there during the Cleveland Brown games as well as the Dallas Cowboys games just cheering the team on and the players for their hard work and dedication.
Two other people played one sport and moved on to football at the same time. Bo Jackson started playing baseball before jumping into the NFL. He appeared in the Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Royals in addition to spending time with the Angels, another Los Angeles baseball team, before transitioning to the NFL, where he played 38 games. It wasn't until a hip injury that he retired from his football career. Deon Sanders is another star who played two sports, baseball and football, at the same time. He began both of his careers in 1989 when he was drafted by the New York Yankees. He later moved to football, where he was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons.
Both Jackson and Deon Sanders succeeded in playing multiple sports at once. Lebron may be the next person who will be able to play two sports. He could retire after this season of basketball to fulfill his dream career of playing football, either as a wide receiver or in the tight end position. We will see where the road takes him from here.
Image obtained from Squarespace.
