All-Star LeBron James says he still doesn't know whether his 23rd NBA season will be his last

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — LeBron James still hasn't decided whether his unprecedented 23rd NBA season will be his last.

“When I know, you guys will know,” James told reporters Sunday after arriving at Intuit Dome to play in his 21st All-Star Game. “I don’t know. I have no idea. I just want to live. That’s all.”

The 41-year-old James again confirmed he is not on a farewell tour this season with the Los Angeles Lakers, even though he teared up during a tribute to his career in Cleveland last month. He has also spoken repeatedly about the importance of savoring moments of the season with his teammates, including his 21-year-old son, Bronny.

And while he deftly parried this All-Star Game round of questions about his future with the same basic answer he has given for months, James expressed gratitude for another chance to make memories with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on the All-Star stage. The veteran superstars were slated to play together on the “Stripes” team of American All-Stars before Curry's knee injury sidelined him, but Curry is still attending the game.

“It’s always an honor to see those guys,” James said. “We've 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.”

As to the length of that career, James repeated his regular declarations that he hasn't made a decision and he is focused on the final 28 games of the regular season with the Lakers, who are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race despite major injury problems. James could be a free agent this summer, but he claims he's not thinking beyond the tasks before the Lakers.

“It has nothing to do with that,” James said. “Same motivation, same mind factor. We’ve got past the marathon, and now the sprint is about to start.”

James has spoken in the past about his desire to become an NBA owner after his playing career, and the league could soon be exploring expansion. James has noticed, but his next career isn't his focus.

“There’s a lot of things that I have on the table that I could tap into if I want to, (ownership) being one of them,” James said. “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.”

James spoke to reporters before Sunday’s game because the league has allowed him to skip All-Star Saturday activities in recent years. James said Thursday that he planned to spend his extra time off at home recovering from a season in which he has already missed 18 games due to various health concerns, including sciatica that sidelined him for the Lakers’ first 14 games.

Yet he still headed into this break Thursday by becoming the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double.

The four-time NBA champion with the longest career in league history is still performing at an All-Star level alongside fellow All-Star Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, yet the Lakers’ dynamic trio has played only 10 games together this season because of injuries to all three players.

“It’s too hard to really say what we’re capable of,” James said. “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 (thing) 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.”

James has missed too many games to qualify for his 22nd inclusion on the All-NBA teams, but he was still chosen for another All-Star Game after missing last year's game in San Francisco, ending his 20-year streak of appearances.

More than two decades after he started for the Eastern Conference in his All-Star debut, he returns to play in a game that has been transformed into a round-robin tournament between two teams of American players and a powerhouse team representing the rest of the world.

Like Kawhi Leonard and several other All-Stars, James prefers the classics.

“East-West is definitely a tradition,” James said. “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.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

USA Stripes forward LeBron James (23) answers questions before the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

USA Stripes forward LeBron James (23) answers questions before the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

USA Stripes forward LeBron James (23) answers questions before the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

USA Stripes forward LeBron James (23) answers questions before the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

MILAN (AP) — Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Canada are rolling into the knockout round at the Olympics as the best team in the tournament.

They may have put the top seed out of the Americans' reach.

Crosby and McDavid each had a goal and two assists in a clinical, businesslike 10-2 dismantling of France on Sunday. Canada finished round robin play unbeaten, outscoring opponents by 17 goals over three games.

“We did what we came to do," said McDavid, who leads all scorers in Milan. "We came to win a hockey game and continue to get better.”

The blowout also included Tom Wilson fighting the player who delivered a forearm to Nathan MacKinnon's face a couple of minutes earlier. MacKinnon returned and Wilson was ejected, since fighting is a game misconduct under international rules, but the already popular teammate earned even more respect inside Canada's locker room.

“He’s going to stick up for his guys,” forward Sam Bennett said. “He’s a leader on this team and he’s a guy that’s going to protect our guys and do whatever it takes for our team.”

The U.S. would need to beat Germany by 10 or more goals on Sunday night to overtake Canada for the No. 1 seed. A win of any kind short of that would put the U.S. second and on a crash course to face seventh-seeded Sweden in the quarterfinals, and an unexpected regulation loss would shake up the already surprising standings.

Sweden is quite the formidable opponent, though Canada showed in the preliminary round that it has the skill, size and finishing ability to skate any other team in Milan out of the building. McDavid has nine points in his first nine periods to lead all scorers at his first Olympics, and Crosby has been great at 38 in his third looking to go 3 for 3 in gold medals.

“Sid’s playing great,” McDavid said. “Everybody’s playing really, really well. The team’s playing well. We’re in a good place right now.”

Macklin Celebrini, Canada's youngest player at 19, scored on a penalty shot and on the power play against France to give him four goals in three games. Wilson, picked by coach Jon Cooper to ride shotgun on the top line on McDavid's right wing, also had a goal, an assist and some big hits.

Mark Stone scored short-handed with 3.4 seconds left in the first period and had two assists. Brandon Hagel had Canada's ninth goal in the third before Celebrini scored the 10th.

Canada outshot France 46-13, making life as easy as possible on goaltender Jordan Binnington, who might want the second goal back but should still be in net Wednesday in the quarterfinals against the winner of the 8/9 game between Czechia and Denmark.

Longtime NHL goaltender Frederik Andersen made 33 saves on 35 shots to give Denmark its first victory in Milan, 4-2 over Latvia.

Winning by two on an empty-netter also put Denmark ahead in the seeding, leaving Latvia to be 10th and face No. 7 Sweden in the qualification round Tuesday.

Rallying around the absence of injured winger Kevin Fiala, Switzerland beat Czechia 4-3 in overtime to give itself an easy path to the quarterfinals.

Winning the preliminary round finale means captain Roman Josi's team next faces winless host Italy in the qualification playoffs Tuesday.

“We knew it was a big game,” said Josi, the Nashville Predators defenseman who scored Switzerland's first goal by banking the puck off Radko Gudas' left skate and in. "Obviously a lot of up and downs in that third period but found a way. It was a huge win against a really good team.”

Former Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Dean Kukan scored the overtime winner. In 172 NHL regular-season and playoff games, he had just six goals and ranked this one top three in his career.

Timo Meier of the New Jersey Devils and Pius Suter of the St. Louis Blues also scored for Switzerland, and 38-year-old national team goaltender Leonardo Genoni stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced.

Fiala, the Los Angeles Kings' second-leading scorer, had surgery to repair what the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation only called a lower left leg injury. He sent his teammates a video message from his hospital bed, and coach Patrick Fischer hopes Fiala is back at the athletes' village Monday.

“He’s still with us,” said Nico Hischer, who captains the Devils in the NHL. "We’ll play for him. And obviously you hate to see injury like that. He’s one of our best players, so it’s obviously a tough loss for us. But we know he’s still engaged with us, and he’ll cheer us on.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Czechia's Tomas Hertl (48) is challenged by Switzerland's Damien Riat (9) during a preliminary round match of men's ice hockey between Switzerland and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Switzerland players celebrate their victory after a preliminary round match of men's ice hockey between Switzerland and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Canada's Macklin Celebrini (17) scores on a penalty shot in the second period against France's goalkeeper Julian Junca (33) during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Canada's Macklin Celebrini (17) scores a goal on a penalty shot in the second period against France's goalkeeper Julian Junca (33) during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Canada's Mark Stone (61) celebrates after scoring a goal against France's goalkeeper Julian Junca (33) and France's Jules Boscq (27) in the first period during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)