LeBron excited by Lakers’ revamped roster, ‘not worried’ about future

The second, Calif. – When LeBron James walked onto the court for the Los Angeles Lakers’ media day Monday in his gold No. 23 jersey, it signaled a pair of firsts for the 40-year-old superstar.

Once the season begins, James will be the only player in NBA history to play 23 seasons, breaking a tie with Vince Carter. And for the first time in James’ eight seasons with the Lakers, he is coming into a season on an expiring contract.

Despite the unique circumstances — a 21-time All-Star coming off an All-NBA second team selection and playing with no long-term financial commitment from the team — James said his contract situation will not affect his performance this season.

“It will have no impact,” James told ESPN. “I’m super excited about the challenges and the excitement of our team. We added some new guys. We got another year under our belt with our coaching staff from last year. Got a full year with Luka [Doncic] and another year with the guys that I’ve been with. So super excited about that.

“And I’m not worried about contracts at this point in my career. That doesn’t bother me at all. Super humbled to even have it, have a contract still and be able to play the game that I love still at this part of my career and take full advantage of it.”

James exercised his $52.6 million player option for this season in June. At the time of the contract decision, his agent and CEO of Klutch Sports, Rich Paul, told ESPN’s Shams Charania that James “wants to compete for a championship” and that “he knows the Lakers are building for the future.”

Added Paul: “We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career.”

L.A. was the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference last season and lost to the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs in five games.

When asked by ESPN what would constitute a successful Lakers season, Doncic had one thing in mind. “Winning a championship. That’s the goal,” he said.

When posed the same question, James had a more granular answer. “That we’re detailed every day. We have to be detailed. And the Western Conference is a gauntlet. The league is tough, and we have to be detailed on everything, on all facets of the game, both offensively and defensively. We have to hold each other accountable, and we got to play championship basketball every single day. And does that [always] result in wins? No. I mean, this is a win-loss league; you’re not going to win games even when you play well. And it’s sometimes when you don’t play well and you still win. That’s all a part of the game.

“But we got to pay attention to the details, and I think we will do that.”

James, who suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee in the Lakers’ elimination game against Minnesota, said he’s focused on getting his body ready to sustain an 82-game season.

“That’s always the challenge: How can I get my body close to 100 percent?” he said. “Obviously, coming off the MCL sprain last year, obviously, the foot has kind of given me a little problem from time to time throughout the course of the last few seasons. So, that’s always the challenge of seeing how I can get my body as close to 100 percent where I can go out and perform at a high level. So, I’m still ramping things back up. I’m not where I want to be. But I mean, I don’t want to be where I want to be right now in September. So, I got some time and I’m looking forward to the process of getting there.”

With training camp opening with the first full practice Tuesday, James hinted that he could be limited.

“It remains to be seen,” James told ESPN when asked about his planned participation in training camp and the preseason. “Obviously, I want to be out there as much as I can … but we know where I’m at, and the coaching staff knows where I’m at as far as me getting to a place where we’re all good as far as getting on the court.

“It’s Year 23 from me. I got a lot of miles on my game. I’ve trained throughout the course of the offseason, but just my presence is going to be important as well. Making sure that even if I’m not on the floor, I’m always in tune to what we’re doing so I know what’s going on at all times. So, just looking forward to that.”

Though James did not say when he’ll call it a career, he made clear that his decision will not hinge on his second-oldest son, Bryce James, making the league. “I’m not waiting on Bryce,” James said of the University of Arizona freshman guard. “He has his own timeline. I got my timeline, and I don’t know if they quite match up.”

James also said he will monitor his mental approach and how his body responds to the grind as he considers retirement in the future.

“For me, it’s just, am I still excited about the process? Do I still get motivated about the process every single year?” James told ESPN. “Preparing my body. Preparing my mind. Working on my body, training, things of that nature, to get ready for a full season.

“I think once I kind of fall out of love with the process, then I’ll know for sure. Then, it’d probably be the end for me.”