The NBA hasn’t released its full schedule yet, but we’re starting to get some details about some of its marquee games. We know that the Cleveland Cavaliers will be taking on the New York Knicks on Christmas. It will be the first time in eight years they’ve played on the holiday. Now, we also know when they will host the Los Angeles Lakers and presumably LeBron James.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin has reported that the Lakers are scheduled to play in Cleveland on January 28 this upcoming season.
There is a lot of uncertainty around LeBron’s future right now. James is going into his 23rd season in the league and his eighth as a Laker. It’s rare for someone to play as long as James has, and he has hinted at retirement in the past.
That said, his level of play hasn’t indicated that retirement is around the corner, even though he seems to be devoting a lot of time to golf nowadays. James is still playing at an All-NBA level as he was voted to the second team this past season after averaging 24.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds in 70 games.
We don’t know how the next year will play out, but it’s clear that James is in an unprecedented time in his career. This meeting in Cleveland in January could be the last time he plays a professional game in the arena he called home for 11 years. Or, it could just be the last time he plays there wearing purple and gold. Or, it could be neither. We simply don’t know.
What we do know is that this will be the 10th anniversary of the 2016 championship team that came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the 73-win Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. Those Finals will forever be the signature moment of James’s career. I’m sure that achievement will be celebrated — as it always is — when he’s in the building again this January.
The Cavs are 5-19 against James’s teams during his career. Two of those five wins came last season when the Cavs swept their two-game home and away set with the Lakers.