For almost any author, writing a book about LeBron James is a privilege. Stating the obvious, they would be more than happy to do so. However, that wasn't the case for famed American sportswriter Roland Lazenby.
Lazenby has made quite a name for himself for his notable works such as "Michael Jordan: The Life," and "Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant," among others. Looking at his resume, Lazenby ticked all the boxes to be the rightful author of a book about James. In fact, he is tasked to do one, but he refuses to. Not because of LeBron but because of the time it would consume from his personal life again.
"I am under contract to write a book about him, but I'm not going to do it," Lazenby told ReadMoreCo in 2021. "It is too hard writing these books, it takes up too much of my life."
Candidly, Lazenby said he just wrote a book about Magic Johnson. That book is titled, "Magic: The Life of Earvin "Magic" Johnson" and it is set to be released in October 2023. While working on it, Lazenby realized that time is no longer on his side, as his family has been patiently waiting for him to call it quits and just enjoy retirement.
It is yet to be known whether Lazenby would change his mind about writing a story about LeBron, but at this point, it's safe to say it's not gonna happen.
"I've just finished spending almost three years on my Magic Johnson book. In many ways, I've been a ghost in my own life due to my work," Lazenby opened up. "I'm 69 years old and working away seven days a week on my Magic book. I may do a project beyond this one. But I'm not focused on that now. I have an 850-page manuscript on Magic that needs to be cut down to a more publishable size. So that is my focus now."
"My wife wants me to retire from writing books," he added. "She has been so supportive of me over the years, it's ridiculous. So it's more about easing up on the work schedule these days."
Retirement might be knocking, but that doesn't mean Lazenby would no longer follow the lives of his favorite NBA players. In fact, he finds a couple of today's NBA stars interesting.
"[Luka] Dončić is interesting, as is Trae Young in Atlanta," he remarked. "But there are many of them. It's always fun to watch the young players and see which ones emerge."
Who knows, maybe one of the up-and. coming stars inspire Lazenby to write a new book more than the great LeBron James. With the hefty amount of young star power in the NBA, that is not a far reach.
