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LeBron James speaks out on decision to leave Lakers, continue playing

LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first quarter in Game Four of the Second Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on May 11, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)

(LOS ANGELES) — LeBron James will leave the Los Angeles Lakers and continue his career elsewhere, according to a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania, citing James’ agent Rich Paul.

James recently completed his 23rd season in the NBA, and his eighth with the Lakers.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said, “LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in history. We will always be thankful for his eight years with the Lakers – including the title he led us to in 2020 under the toughest imaginable circumstances and the countless records he broke in purple and gold.”

The statement continued, “We wish him all the best in the future, both on the court and off. He will always be a cherished part of the Lakers family.”

The announcement comes moments before the NBA’s free agency period is set to kick off, where traditionally high-profile player movement is frequent.

With the announcement, James also leaves his son Bronny James in a Laker uniform. The younger James, who was drafted by the team in 2024, is still on the roster, but could be waived should the Lakers choose to part ways with him.

James’ 23rd season marked the most seasons played in NBA history, and he will now build upon that legacy with his 24th campaign.

The icon of modern basketball, holds a plethora of records including all-time NBA leading scorer.

James finished his 23rd and final season with the Lakers averaging 20.9 points per game, 7.2 assists per game and 6.1 rebounds per game.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Chinese rocket carrying satellite explodes seconds after launch

By CNN
Hong Kong (CNN) — A Chinese rocket set to launch a satellite into orbit blew-up seconds after liftoff Monday, marking the relatively rare failure for a rocket considered a workhorse of Beijing’s space program.The Long March 7A rocket erupted into a massive fireball just 85 seconds after blasting off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the island of Hainan on Monday night, video showed.State news agency Xinhua confirmed the failure three hours after the launch, saying “the rocket experienced an anomaly during flight.” The cause is under investigation, it added, without providing further information.SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who has watched a number of his own rockets explode after launch, commented on X saying: “Rockets are insanely hard.”Long March 7A is a satellite delivery rocket designed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the main state-owned contractor for China’s space program.This was to be the Long March 7A’s 18th mission – it’s only failed on one previous occasion, during its maiden flight in 2020. The second attempt in March 2021 succeeded, with images showing crowds that had gathered to witness the launch.Wenchang, home to one of China’s major rocket launch sites, is known for its space tourism. Tourists and residents often gather at Wenchang Space Launch Viewing Center and other locations to watch launches where there’s a clear view.Gasps could be heard on one video posted online after Monday’s failed launch, as the rocket appeared to break apart midair just after 8 p.m.. The rocket was carrying the Zhongxing-4B or ChinaSat-4B, to provide radio, television and other communications services to users around the world, according to Chinese state media.Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ambitions to make China a world leader in space science by 2050, and the country’s locked in an intense competition with the US on multiple fronts, including reusable launch technology, moon research and satellite launches.Following the failure of the Long March 7A on Monday, the much-anticipated launch of the Zhuque-3, planned for Tuesday morning at Jiuquan satellite launching station, was delayed, according to Yicai, a Shanghai-based financial news outlet citing sourced information.The Zhuque-3, developed by Chinese private rocket company LandSpace, is the country’s first serious attempt to build a reusable launch rocket. It made its first voyage in December 2025, but the first stage of the rocket caught fire before crashing near the target recovery site.Last month, China successfully recovered the first stage of the rocket during a subsequent test – a breakthrough for the country’s reusable rocket program. In that test, the first-stage booster returned to a floating platform about six minutes after ⁠the separation of its first and upper stage, according to state broadcaster CCTV.“This mission … signifies a historic breakthrough in China’s reusable rocket technology and a solid foundation for accelerating the improvement of China’s space access capabilities,” the rocket-maker China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said in a post to social media at the time.Unlike the Zhuque-3, the Long March 7A is a three-stage rocket that’s not designed for re-use.Measuring almost 200 feet (60 meters) in length, the rocket has four boosters and the capacity to send seven metric tons of payload to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) – approximately around 22,000 miles (35,405 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface.CNN’s Fred He contributed to the reporting.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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