ALL-STAR GAME (PREGAME)

February 15, 2026

LeBron James

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Considering where the Lakers are right now and you talking to us about the uncertainty of your future beyond this season, how do you view the remainder of the regular season?

LEBRON JAMES: Most important for our ball club right now is health. I can’t state it any more clear. Not quite sure how many games we’ve had where we’ve had a full roster. We’re over the halfway point and there’s not been many games. Obviously I know it’s been a lot more than over half, for sure, and probably even plus that.

Our success is going to come down to obviously our health. Our coaching staff putting us in the right position, I think they’re going to give us a game plan every night. But when it comes down to what we have to work with, we have to actually go out and see it. We haven’t been privy to having that opportunity much this year.

Q. How does your personal uncertainty for this summer and beyond for your career play as a factor in your urgency here?

LEBRON JAMES: No. We’re gearing up toward the postseason. It has nothing to do with that. Same motivation. Same mind factor. We’ve gotten past the marathon and the sprint is about to start. I think everybody understands that.

Q. LeBron, there have been moments throughout your career where you talked about post-basketball aspirations, including NBA ownership. I'm curious what your interest level is in that. Adam Silver said there are going to be real discussions about expansion coming up soon. How important is NBA ownership to you big picture? And if that's something you want to pursue, why does it matter so much to you?

LeBRON JAMES: There's a lot of things that I have on the table that I could tap into if I want to, that being one of them. There's other ventures as well that I'll continue to explore and then see what will engage me and motivate me post-career. Right now, I'm still locked in on what's going in right now with our season, and that's where my mind is.

Q. LeBron, this All-Star Game is you, Steph's not playing but he's here, Giannis, KD. What's it mean for all of you guys to still be playing at this level?

LeBRON JAMES: Giannis is a little different. He's a little bit younger for us. Giannis is not in that bucket yet. It will be me, Steph and KD for sure. Maybe add Kawhi in there, but he's a little bit younger than us as well.

It's always an honor to see those guys. We have had such an unbelievable journey throughout our individual careers and then intersecting at certain points in our careers, matchups in the regular season, Finals appearances, postseason appearances, then Olympics two summers ago.

When it comes to me, Steph and KD, we'll be interlocked for the rest of our careers for sure. It's been great to be able to have some moments with those guys, versus those guys, teaming up with those guys.

Q. Playing in Los Angeles, getting the opportunity to have an All-Star Game in Los Angeles, what does it mean for you at this point in your career, getting an opportunity to play in an All-Star Game where you're also playing day in and day out?

LeBRON JAMES: Nothing, because this is not our building. Nothing at all. This is a road game.

Q. How much thought have you put into the runway of the rest of your life? Like is this something where you're like that door is closed until I stop playing? Or have you said, okay, here's what I want to do when I'm 45? Here's what I want to do when I'm 50? Here's what I want to do when I'm 55?

LeBRON JAMES: No. I think what I want to do at 45, 50 and 55 will be a lot of creating great vibes and fun with my family and my friends. That's one of my passions, to create memories that will last forever. That's for sure the most important for me, creating things we'll never, ever forget. My family and my friends, looking forward to that.

Q. You talked about the importance of having full health. If you and the group are able to have consistent health through the second half of the season, what do you think this team is capable of accomplishing?

LeBRON JAMES: It's hard to say because this is a new group. We added DA and Marcus and Jake, just got a new acquisition on our ball club a couple games ago. It's too hard to really say what we're capable of.

I know that when we've played some of our best basketball of the season, we've looked very good. On the other side, when we've been terrible, we've looked disgusting. So, I think the most important is, if we can get healthy, how many minutes we can be on the floor, how much chemistry we can build with this sprint starting.

You would hope that you could have the regular season to kind of build that cohesiveness and things of that nature, but I'm hoping that, if we can get healthy, we can start to build that.

Q. Congratulations for another All-Star appearance. It happens to be Chinese New Year today. How about sending some blessings to all your many Chinese fans?

LeBRON JAMES: It's always -- well, I was just there last summer. I've always had a great time going into China and just kind of continuing to inspire the game of basketball. They love the game of basketball. Happy Chinese New Year. It's an unbelievable moment for sure.

To all my fans and people over there, it's always been great. You guys always welcome me and my friends and family with open arms, and I've always appreciated it. I know there will be another opportunity for me to go back over there at some point, and I'm looking forward to it.

Q. You recently released a sneaker through your Next Gen line in collaboration with JuJu Watkins of USC. How important is it for you to kind of help grow the women's game, specifically like in regions in the Philippines who are still trying to catch up to everyone in the rest of the world?

LeBRON JAMES: First of all, JuJu is an unbelievable basketball player, but more importantly, she's an unbelievable person. To be able to have a collaboration with her, get her inspiration, to be able to create that silhouette that we created that you guys saw in launch a few days ago, it was an honor for me, it was a treat for me.

We just got all the inspiration from her, what's she like on and off the court. So, we're trying to do our part, continue to inspire the game, men and women. Not only here in Los Angeles, not only in our hometowns of Watts and L.A. and Akron, but in L.A. and Philippines and all over the world. Hopefully we are doing our part to continue to inspire the game that we love so much.

Q. I guess I should ask, do you still have the same uncertainty about next year? Do you have an inkling of what you want to do?

LeBRON JAMES: Yeah, I mean, I want to live.

When I know, you guys will know. I don't know. I have no idea. I just want to live. That's all.

Q. I was talking to Steph Castle yesterday about the night you gave him a signed NBA jersey, I think it was the Cup. He mentioned it obviously being an honor. I know he's a young player that you've shown a lot of love and respect for. What do you seefrom him and the trajectory he's on and what do you like about his game?

LeBRON JAMES: I like the fact he went to UConn, and even though he was the most talented guy on the team, that he just kind of went in there and played his role. He defended at a high level. He showed flashes of his athleticism, but he didn't step outside the box. He was just fitting in, and they won a National Championship. That's a winning player.

I think we all saw how talented the kid was, and that's the reason why he was a lottery pick and that's the reason why he's doing what he's doing now. But the fact that he didn't go somewhere where he could just dominate the ball and shoot a bunch of shots or whatever the case may be, I love that aspect.

Obviously, him being in San Antonio, that also helps too. It's like you're going to learn the game the right way. You're going to play the game the right way. His talent is obviously spoken for, but he just seems like a good kid. I don't really know him like that personally, like I have a personal relationship with him, but he seems like a great kid. I'm pretty good at noticing if you're a good person or not.

Q. You played in so many East versus West All-Star formats. You've seen so many formats in your games. Did you ever think we'd get to the point where we have a World Team and a U.S. Team floated at the All-Star Game?

LeBRON JAMES: No. No. I mean, East-West is definitely a tradition. It's been really good. Obviously, I like the East and West format. They're trying something. We'll see what happens.

I mean, it's like the U.S. versus the World. The World is gigantic over the U.S. I'm just trying to figure out how that makes sense. I don't want to dive too much into that.

All right, yeah. East-West is great. We'll see what happens with this.

Q. Do you have an Aussie player who surprised you this year or that you've liked watching? If so, why?

LeBRON JAMES: Aussie player that surprised me? I think Josh Giddey continues to get better and better. I think his development since he's gotten to Chicago, his ability to -- his knock was when he left OKC was his ability to shoot the ball. Now he's shooting the ball. You can't just sag off of him. You can't just lay off of him and dare him to shoot. He's actually shooting the ball at a high clip.

Obviously, he's a big guard. He pushes the pace with a lot of steam. He continues to get better and better. I think Chicago has a really good player in him.

Q. For all the Israeli fans, what message would you like to send for Israel, and also what do you think about Deni Avdija?

LeBRON JAMES: Well, I've been quoted on Deni already, and they asked me what I thought about his season, and I said I believe he was an All-Star. I mean, he is an All-Star. He's playing exceptional basketball. So that's that.

If I have fans over there -- I've never been there. If I have fans over there, then I hope you've been following my career, and I hope I've inspired people over there to not only want to be great at sports but just be better in general in life.

Hopefully someday I can make it over there. Like I said, I've never been over there, but I've heard nothing but great things. I appreciate the question.