The permanent number was confirmed before he even retired.
The owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, Jini Buss, said, “The standard for the Lakers to permanently remove their uniform number is whether or not the player in question is inducted into the Hall of Fame. I am LeBron James (39, 206cm). I’m sure he’ll be in the Hall of Fame,” he said.
“When LeBron goes into the Hall of Fame, we’re going to have his number permanently removed. LeBron’s retirement is only a matter of time because that will happen, no doubt,” he added.
Lebron, 20 years after his debut, moved to the Lakers from the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018. Since then, he has led the team with averages of 27.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.8 assists for the Lakers over the past five seasons.
In the 2019-20 season, the Lakers won the championship. LeBron’s 4th Finals win. The joy of being selected as MVP in the finals that reached the top was a bonus.
The Lakers have not decided which of LeBron’s number 6 or number 23 will be permanently retired. This will depend on the rest of LeBron’s Lakers career.
Lebron will change his jersey number from number 6 to number 23 starting next season. In fact, the number 23 LeBron wore when he debuted in Cleveland in 2003. He subsequently switched to number 6 from 2011 to 2014 when he transferred to the Miami Heat.
He returned to No. 6 in 2015 when he returned to Cleveland and kept it until last season. The reason why LeBron changed his uniform number again is to commemorate Bill Russell, a legend who passed away in July of last year.
In honor of Russell, the NBA (National Basketball Association) secretariat decided to permanently remove the number 6 of his active career from all 30 clubs. However, 6 people who were already using number 6, including LeBron, were an exception. However, LeBron showed his respect for Russell and returned the number 6 jersey at the end of last season.
Lebron’s contract with the Lakers has two years left. A player option is at stake for the final season of the contract. After his retirement, it is noteworthy which jersey number LeBron will be permanently absent from the Lakers.