LeBron James‘ daughter Zhuri hilariously stole the show during Wednesday night’s presentation at the ESPYs with a joke the family will continue to talk about years from now.
The 8-year-old was on stage alongside her mother, Savannah, and brothers, Bronny, 18, and Bryce, 16, as they presented James with the award for breaking the NBA’s all-time scoring record. The queen of the James household began to give the Los Angeles Lakers star a proper tribute for his contributions to the sport and off the court, USA Today reported.
In a planned segment between the mother-daughter duo, Savannah began to compliment James and would’ve ended the tribute with a curse word. Before she continued, Zhuri stopped her mother, and the crowd laughed at what was the best joke of the night.
Zhuri had to keep Savannah James in check 😅 pic.twitter.com/RZPGl9UAtm
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 13, 2023
“Please welcome to the stage, the GOAT, respectfully, LeBron James,” Savannah said.
James was amused by the bit and joined his family on stage to accept the prestigious award. He thanked his wife and children for supporting his 20-year basketball career and confirmed he would be in a Lakers uniform next season. Blavity reported the 38-year-old considered retirement in May after being swept by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.
“When the season ended, I said I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep playing,” James said during the ceremony, according to ESPN. “And I know a lot of experts told you guys what I said, but I’m here now speaking for myself. In that moment, I’m asking myself if I can still play without cheating the game — can I give everything to the game still? The truth is, I’ve been asking myself this question at the end of the season for a couple years now. I just never openly talked about it.”
The Cleveland native said watching his sons play basketball motivates him to continue his hoop career.
“You know what brings me back every year? It’s watching and coaching my boys and their teammates,” he said. “I see those kids, and it brings me right back to why I play. Those kids get me back to where I need to be, just the pure love of his beautiful game.”
“So, yeah, I still got something left. A lot left. I love you all, and thank you so much for watching this journey so far,” he added.