What LeBron James told Serena Williams after she officially retired from tennis

In 2022, Serena Williams officially brought her playing days to an end.

The American legend retired at the US Open that year, playing her final match in the third round of the tournament.

Williams carved out arguably the greatest career in women’s tennis history, claiming a total of 73 tour-level titles, 23 of which were earned at Grand Slams.

Her retirement sent shock waves throughout the sporting world, with several big names congratulating her, including Los Angeles Lakers basketball star LeBron James.


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LeBron James’ message to Serena Williams after she retired

James, who many consider to be the greatest basketball player of all time, took to social media to send her a message.

As per Mail Online, Williams’ compatriot said: “Serena, [it’s] LeBron here. Wow, where do I start? First of all, I can start by just saying congratulations to you on an unbelievable career. You’re a GOAT.

“What you have done for the sport of tennis, what you’ve done for women, and what you’ve done for the category of sport, period, is unprecedented.

“It’s been an honour to watch your journey, to watch you conquer all the goals you ever set out, to see you break records, to see you be amazing and transcendent, not only on the tennis court, but also off.


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“I literally could sit here and talk about your journey and just talk about watching you from afar and our relationship now for an hour, but I don’t want to bore you too much about stuff that you already know!

“So I just want to say thank you for just being this inspiration for so many and never putting yourself out there where you didn’t feel like you were the greatest.

“And showing the world that every time you were out there, you were the greatest. Win, lose, or draw, it didn’t matter; we all knew that you were the greatest.

“Congratulations once again, and I wish you nothing but the greatest journey ahead of you and every endeavour that you have outside of your respective sport.

“You’ve been unbelievable, I salute you, and when I see you, I’ll give you a big, giant hug as well to show my appreciation.”

Serena Williams’ reason for retiring from tennis in 2022

Williams initially announced that she planned to retire in August 2022, revealing in a Vogue article that she wishes to ‘evolve away’ from tennis.

She said: “I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people.

“Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.

“I’ve been reluctant to admit that I have to move on from playing tennis. It’s like a taboo topic. It comes up, and I start to cry.”

Her final match ended in defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic in round three of the 2022 US Open.