First of all, you tip your hat to them
Defending champions, super, super, great team, super well coached
And you tippy hats
I mean, they made the plays down the stretch to win this series, and so you get credit
What credit is due, that's for sure
No, I just want to get home to the family, honestly
Start looking at the schedule
Obviously, I got, you know, my son, one of my boys is just trying to decide if he's going to enter the draft or go back to school
I got another kid that's playing au ball right now
My daughter is playing volleyball, and my wife is doing so many great things
So it's about family right now
And then in a couple months, I gotta go to Vegas for training camp, so I gotta rest my body for USAB
But that's kind of the initial thoughts
I don't know
I haven't given much thought lately
Obviously, I thought about it in the past, but then of the day, the kid
The kid has to do what he wants to do, and I don't even want to say kid no more
The young man will decide what he wants to do and how he wants his career to go
So I just think the fact that
I'm not going to ask a corny comparison about you to anybody else, but I am going to ask you to compare 35 year old LeBron with a little bit of gray in that beer
Maybe a little bit less up top to 27
Year old LeBron that got that first one
What's better about LeBron James 35 year old game and mind than the young man that won his first?
Oh, yeah
By just doing what I know how to do
There's no pressure
There's no pressure at all
I've been getting pressure since I was ten years old
I don't think there's no pressure for me because I'm doing something that I love to do, that's play the game of basketball
I'm doing the same thing that y'all love to do, and that's y'all like to watch me play basketball
If I ask y'all that question, y'all gonna say the same thing
I mean, is there any pressure to ask me these questions? It's no pressure because y'all know how to do what y'all do, right?
Run in the NBA? Well, you know, I never say myself
I always say my team
It's not about myself
It's just about how well, as a team, we can grow as a family and just get better every single day, because the other teams out there is getting better every day
And if we take one step backwards, we gonna end up like we was this year
We don't want that to happen again
This is for LeBron and everybody else up here
Can you describe a little bit about how school is going to be tomorrow? School
But anyways, school will be great
I want to love every moment of it
No, I might even invite you over to my house
Well, for me, I'm not going to be around to, say, the franchise
I'm be around for, hopefully, the average, ten to 15 years
But I'm just trying to make Cleveland the way it was when
I don't want to say this, but when Michael Jordan used to kill us all the time
But I'm just trying to do the best I can, and I think I'm gonna do a real
A real good job
Oh, no, I was in
They put me in the nosebleeds
First time I ever went to a Cavs game
I like that too much
The gun, huh? Freshmen
I couldn't see him
I couldn't see who
I just went to the game
I don't know who I was watching
I had my own little tv up there, just watching the cat
Oh, it's bad now
I don't even know that
I don't know how I got out of there either
I think I fainted
It was so far up for all
Well, I hope I can put a lot of smiles back on people's faces in Cleveland
You know, the baseball team is going through a transition right now, and basketball team, you know, football team is really starting to kick in now
And I hope, you know, the basketball team, we gonna be
Y'all gonna be excited about coming to the games
Yes, I agree
I said a lot of parts of my game that needs to be improved, but when the season start, they have to talk about something else
Make sure you get this, too
I'm not going to guarantee no championship
I'll tell you that
I'm just going to
I'm guaranteed that we get better every day, and that's the thing that you guys don't see that comes from practice
Sometimes you have practice, but sometimes you're not
Just know that we're going to get better every day, and we're going to be a lot better team than last year
I can guarantee that
Well, I think so
I just think that
I just hope that they be your friend until you get on the team
I just hope that they accept me for who I am as a basketball player and especially as a person
I'm not coming into the team right away trying to be a leader, but if they give that to me, I know how to be a leader, but I'm just going to accept my role until I have to do something
But I'm just going to try to get our team better every day
Ron, what's the biggest obstacle you face now? Making a jump to this team
Just staying focused, going from 27 games to 82 games, and it's just all about eating right and staying healthy and doing the right things off and on the court
I think that's the biggest
No more skittles
Yeah, I still eat skittles
I got to
I got to eat skittles
The physically
Physically bib ready
I just feel
I don't know
It's no different for me
I know how to play the game of basketball
Not saying that to be cocky
I just
I think I know how to play the game of basketball, and I don't change my game when I'm playing against anyone
I'm just looking forward to seeing who gonna be our coach
Either it's gonna be Keith smart gonna stay, or we gonna get somebody in there, because as soon as we get a new coach, as soon as I be able to get a good relationship with him
Yep
Coach Drew Joyce
Yeah
My friend's been nervous
I've been nervous
Y'all been nervous? Cause I know y'all want me to stay here, but it's been a long
It's been a long day, but I
This is just the start of something new
I love it
I like that jersey a lot
It's nice
What number do you want to win undecided right now? I like that paper in the plain
I like that picture in the plain
Dita today look pretty good, but y'all got me with adidas shoes on
I don't wear Adidas
I'm a Nike guy
I'm a Nike guy
Could help them the most? The one or the two? Right now we got smush playing the one, and I think I can contribute after one or the two
Ready for snatching it?
Well, I'm real excited
I really can't
It's not kicked into me yet
You know, my boy lc asked me, what does it feel like? And it hasn't kicked in yet to what I'm getting myself into
But I'm so excited about being a Nike guy, and I just felt that that was the best fit for me, you know, and somewhat it had to do about the money, of course, but I just think that they showed me that it was going to be a long term thing, and that's what hopefully I can get from the Cavs
No
I was just excited
Just really excited
Yeah, bitch
What need? What needed
I always do my homework
You gonna ask me a question? I always do my homework
Honor old student
No
Did my homework on the nuggets
I don't
I'm a cavalier
I don't want to talk about too much about the nuggets you'll be playing
A lot
That's only 2 hours away, huh? Yeah
You know, if they play them a lot, too
Play them a lot, too
I think if they pick Carmelo, it's a great choice
Well, I think these boys are more happier than I am
You know, the whole year
Y'all see them in Adidas now
What y'all see em in? Look at em
They all got look at em
They all got on Nike
They all got on Nike now, but we're just excited
We was ready for it to happen
It seemed like on Monday that this day had never come
But now, you know, we gonna do a little celebrating this weekend, didn't he? Well, all right, then
See y'all see at the gun
Just like this
It
Ronnie is number one on my fucking list
That's dope
He's number one on my list that I want to play with for sure
Nah, he can't beat me
Not too long ago, I said
I asked him, I said, you wanna
What you wanna do with this? Like, you wanna get to the pros? What you wanna do? He's like, yeah
I said, why? He said, cause I wanna make a name for myself
And when I heard that album that's
Nothing
I said
I said, well, let's fucking get it
Let's get it
Let's get it
That's all I need to hear
I appreciate what you did, but back to five
I wanna be
Yeah
And I love it
By the way, he changed his name to Bronny
I didn't
He changed his name
Yeah
Yeah, I made him a junior
But he Bronny
And he Bronny to the world
He Bronny to the world
You know who else you want to play with in today's game? Shit, man, there's some motherfuckers in today's game, but Steph Curry
Steph Curry's the one that I want to play with for sure in today's game
All time
It's crazy, man
I love Scottie Pippen, bro
Yeah
Scottie was like the shit
Like, I mean, obviously, MJ was crazy cold
Kobe would have been another one
But, like, Scottie Pippen and Penny Hardaway was like my two
Cause I seen myself in them
Same how Asia just said what she just said
Like, I saw myself in Pippen and Penny
Tall guards point forward, get everybody involved, defending all type of positions
But, like, right now, it's Steph
I love everything about that guy
When he get out of his car, you better guard him right from the moment he pulls up to the arena
As soon as he get out of
You might want to guard him when he can get out of the bed, parking dick
Swear to God
He's serious
Too, obviously
I love Luca
Luca Cole
Luca bamboo
Yeah? Yeah, me and Luca, we good
I do him dirty
You two in shape right now for Khaled?
I do not make reactions right off the bat, because, you know, I've been a part of
I created it uninterrupted, because there's times where you can say something and they can take about a small bit of it, and then this is what they blast out to everybody
And that's why I started uninterrupted, because I got tired of being interrupted about these things I was saying into the media
And they will only take
Out of the 20 minutes I was talking, they will take two minutes
One clip
Put it on there
LeBron says this, and I got tired of that
So when I heard the comment that Kyrie made, I wanted to, one, not only find the whole transcript, but also call my people, send me the whole transcript
And I heard he had did it on Katie's podcast
And I was a little like, like, damn
Once I got the whole transcript, I was like, damn
You know, I wasn't like, are you tripping? I hit game winning shots
I was not like that
I was like, damn
Because you were there for a couple seasons
I mean, I played with Kyrie for three seasons
The whole time while I was there, I only wanted to see him be an mvp of our league
I only cared about his success, and it just didn't align
It just didn't align
And we was able to win a championship
That's the craziest thing
We were still able to win a championship, and we could never align
But I only cared about his well being, both on and off the floor
And it kind of, like
It kind of hurt me a little bit
Know that's what it was because it was the finals
Listen
Kd's a dog
Team USA was giving a lot to me, so I feel like, you know, it's an opportunity for me to give back
You know, we all had dialogue throughout the season and we thought it'd be pretty special
We were all healthy
We all have an opportunity to get together and, you know, show what we're capable of
You know, giving my all to the game, to the craft, and also dedicating my body, understanding that, you know, my body is my tempo
To continue to play at a high level, you have to be able to commit to doing the things that I guess some of your peers don't want to do
I want to squeeze as much juice as I can out of my career
It's going to work just like any one of my teammates
Hold him accountable, man, he should hold me accountable when I do things, you know, not right
You know, for me, you know, I probably would hold him at a higher standard because, you know, I want him to be great
I want him to be as great as he can be
You're only going to get out as much as you put in, you know? So I hope that I'm able to inspire, you know, the next generation to, you know, put the work in as both on the floor, off the floor, commit to the game
There's no shortcuts to being great, and he's lived it
What?
Melissa, last question
Hey, Bron, obviously, all time scoring record
Another season where you essentially defeat father time again
On a personal level, how would you evaluate the season that you had? I don't know
I love to play the game
I love to compete
I love to be out there for my guys, my teammates, wherever I have
That particular year, I think it was special in the fact that having a first year coaching, first year coaching staff to be able to take, you know, take them to the Western Conference finals, I think that's dope for coach Hamm and his coaching staff going forward
That's pretty amazing for me
I mean, I just, you know, it's all about availability for me and keeping my mind sharp and things of that nature
Being present on the floor, being president, you know, locker room and bus rides and plane rides, things of that nature
It's challenging
It's challenging
You know, for sure, it was a very challenging season, you know, for me, you know, for our ball club
And obviously, you know, we know what went on early on or whatever the case may be
But it was a pretty cool, pretty cool ride
But I don't know
I don't know
I don't know
I think it's okay
I don't like to say it's a successful year because I don't play for anything besides winning championships at this point in my career
And I don't
I don't get a kick out of making a conference appearance
I've done it a lot, and it's not fun to me to not be able to be able to be a part of, you know, get into the finals
But we'll see, we'll see
We'll see what happens going forward
But I don't know
I don't know
I got a lot to think about, to be honest
I got a lot to think about, to be honest
And just for me personally, going forward with the game of basketball, got a lot to think about
Appreciate it
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We're gonna have a chance to talk about some history in the fall
With the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers select Bronnie James, LeBron James and Ronnie James will not only be the first teammates to be a father son duo in league history, it's the first time it's ever happened, period
Just take me back to New York
What was that moment like for you?
Between the lines, to some extent, basketball's gonna take care of itself, but outside of those lines, he's starting to have some of the same arrows slung at him that you had when you were a teenager
What's gonna take for him to withstand that?
Yeah
We have breaking news
Just six days after drafting Bronny James, the Lakers have signed his father
You signed a new contract with the Lakers
It potentially could take you through 23 seasons in the NBA, which
Pretty good number
Do you think this could be the last deal you ever sign as an NBA player?
Rich Paul told me leading up to you signing that deal that you'd be willing to take a pay cut to sign an impact player
But here we sit, Clay Thompson's with the Dallas Mavericks, Demarti Rosen's with the Sacramento Kings
What do you think happens?
Since 2020, as the team had its ups and downs, we've had some private conversations about just how much winning still matters to you
You have all the accolades
We talked about the stuff you've been able to earn through this game, but you still want to win
Can you do it here with the Lakers between now and the end of your career? Can it happen again?
What gives you that confidence?
That's it
This historic 2020 NBA championship belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers conquer the bubble, and banner number 17 will soon hang in the rafters
I am
I promise you
I have not mapped out how many seasons I have left
I know it's not that many
I also don't know if I will
I was asked this question a couple days ago
Will you kind of take the farewell tour, or were you kind of just Tim dunking it? I'm 50 50
I'm gonna be honest, because there's times where I feel like, I guess I owe it to my fans that's been along this journey with me for two decades plus to be able to give them that moment, you know, where it's every city and whatever the case may be, and, you know, they give you your flowers or whatever the case may be, you know, that seems cool
But the other side of, I've never been that great with accepting, like, praise
It's a weird feeling for me
I never really talked about it much, but it's just a weird feeling for me
So to go in each city, if that's the case, I don't know
I've seen Mike's, I've seen Kobe's
I've seen a lot of guys
I just don't know how much I
How I feel
I don't know if I will feel great about it
Maybe the only child in me, maybe, but I don't know
But I am a laker, and I am happy and been very happy being a laker the last six years, and hopefully it stays that way
But I don't have the answer to how long it is or which uniform I'll be in
Hopefully it is with the Lakers
It's a great organization and so many greats, but we'll see
I don't know how it's going to end, but it's coming
It does
It does
In the fact that, you know, when I was a kid, when I was in high school, I was growing up through the ranks
When Kobe came into the league, he was, you know, wasn't a dream of mine to come straight, you know, from high school at that point in time to the NBA
But I was like, wow, a 17 year old, 18 year old kid being able to make that leap, that's pretty damn cool
And as I started playing more ball and I went into high school, the things that he was doing on the floor, I admired and wanted to be a part of
I went to ABCD camp, and he came and talked to all the kids that was there, that happened to be one of the kids that was there
And I was just listening
I was just trying to soak everything up I could
And I remember one thing that he said
He was like, if you want to try to be, you know, great at it or want to be one of the greats, you got to put the work in
You know, there's no substitution to work
And I was a 15 year old kid at that camp
You can actually find the footage of him at that camp
And in 2001, I believe I was playing in New Jersey, and the all star game, if I'm not mistaken, and y'all can correct me, was in Philly, right? Yeah
That Saturday, me and Maverick drove to the intercontinental downtown Philadelphia, and he gave me a pair of his shoes, which I ended up wearing that following night
It was the red, white, and blue Kobe's
I was a 15 and he was a 14, and I wore him anyways
And I sat and just talked to him for a little bit
He gave me the shoes
I rocked him in the game
And it was the same night that we played Oak hill against Melo
And then I saw what he was able to do the very next night
Winning MVP here in Philly
That same
That following night as I got drafted, I still just admired him, you know, seeing what he was able to accomplish, winning championships, having, you know, being early in his career where, you know, he learned from the misses that he had against the series against Utah
And he just used that as motivation and got better and better and better to him winning multiple championships and continued to admire him throughout my high school rank and then as competitors, just seeing the work ethic, the work ethic that he put into the game
He had zero flaws offensively
Zero
You backed off of him
He could shoot the three
You body him up a little bit, he can go around you
He can shoot the mid range he can post, he can make free throws
He had zero flaws offensively, and, you know, that's something that I admired as well
Just being at a point where the defense will always be at bay, where they couldn't guard you at all offensively, where you just felt like you was just immortal offensively because of your skill set and your work ethic
We take it down to 2008, where we become the redeemed team, and it was a dream come true for me to be able to line up alongside of him, just admired him for so many years and him seeing him from afar and then being able to be in practices with him and, you know, me watching and learning so on
I mean, it's just, it's just too much
It's just too much
The story is just too much
It doesn't make sense
And just to make a long story short, now I'm here in the Lakers uniform in Philadelphia, where he's from, where I wanted, the first time I ever met him, gave me his shoes
He won an all star weekend
It's just, it's surreal
It doesn't make no sense, but the, the universe just puts things in your life, and when you, I guess when you live in the right way or you just given everything to whatever you're doing, things happen organically, and it's not supposed to make sense, but it just happens
Sorry
And I'm happy just to be in any conversation with Kobe being Bryant, one of the all time greatest basketball players to ever play, one of the all time greatest Lakers
The man got two jerseys hanging up in Staples center
It's just crazy
Braun? Let's do
I mean, let's do the Kyrie thing
Let's do that
Well, my initial thoughts, when I heard that Kyrie wanted to be traded, I had a ton of emotions
You know, I was wondering if something I could have did better to make him not want to be traded
Is it the way that the season finished or was it
Was it me coming back in the first place? Was it the coaching changes or the GM change or
I don't know
I had so many different emotions go through my head
And for me personally, you guys know, you guys are around for the guys that was around every day I try to do whatever I could do to help the kid out, be the best player he can be, try to help him be a better leader, be a better scorer, a better, a better floor general, a better defender, a better pastor, getting guys involved, a better leader
Vocally, I tried to give him everything and give him as much of the DNA as I could because, like I told you guys throughout the season, at some point when he was ready to take over the keys, I was ready to give them to him
So the only thing I'm upset about is that he took a lot of DNA into blueprints now to Boston
That's the only thing I'm upset about, really
Other than that
I mean, I wish the kid
Wish the kid great health and the kid wanted to do what was best for his, I guess, for his career
And I give credit to our GM, Kobe, and to the ownership for granting that for him
So other than that, I don't really have much I don't really have much more to say
Like I said, many different emotions
I just hope that I was the, you know, I tried to do whatever I could, just try to help the kid be as great as he could be or as great as he wanted to be
And, you know, that's it
No, I don't have any advice for him now
I got no advice for him or any other people that's on any other team
No, we, listen, man, we trying to win a championship here, I don't have time to give advice to other guys
You're either with us or you're against us
So, you know, I'm truly humbled and excited, and it was a gratifying three years that we played together
But, you know, even if my, like, if my son went to another team and we was playing against each other, I'm not giving him shit
Nah, he'd come home and eat dinner or something, but he'd get no advice from me
That's just the way it go
Well, I mean, emotions will come up anytime you've hosted a trophy with a teammate, and there's different levels of emotion, obviously, depending on the player or different, you know, what you went through with that guy
But it was emotions
When I came back to Cleveland and I saw, you know, you know, D Wade and Udonis and Chris and Mario and those guys when the first time I seen those guys, a lot of emotions, tons of emotions, because, you know, what you went through
There was emotions last year when, you know, when we seen, when deli came back for the first time, you know, after hosting the trophy, you know, so there will be emotions that go through your head because, you know, you know, the grind and everything that you went through with that particular player being Kyrie, you know, but hopefully, you know, and I've been in this position before, so I know once the game gets going, then I'll be able to just focus on us, just trying to get better and be the best team that we can be that night, and that's the only thing that matters
Oh, I'm sorry
No, I haven't
Since he got traded, I had a little dialogue with him when I heard that he wanted to be traded, but since then, I haven't, you know, you guys know Kyrie, so
Next question
No, I don't think anybody in the organization seems to come in
I mean, you guys don't see him all the time, but Jason, you around enough
I mean, if it's something that we see, you guys would have saw as well
So it was definitely a shock
But, you know, we did a great job of, I think, like I said, kobe and, you know, and the guys in the front office did a great job of putting together a great package for our team to be as complete as we've been in a long time
So that's what I'm truly excited about
I mean, I reached out to him because I just wanted to get a little insight on, you know, why he felt like he wanted to move on
And, you know, and it was, you know, it was, like I said, I had a lot of emotions in my head, but I'm one to always kind of reach out to someone and just see, you know, from their advantage point of, you know, because I didn't
When I heard it, I heard it from a third or fourth party, and I don't, you know, so many things can be fabricated when you hear from different sources and different people
And, you know, obviously, the word source in this world is the worst thing in the world, especially in the sports world
So I'm not a source guy
So I went straight to the guy, and he basically just let me know that that was the direction he wanted to go in, and I was okay with that
I mean, it's a business
I understand that
And it doesn't stop me from leading this franchise and leading his team and going on about it, but I definitely wanted to just go right to him and ask him, and he clarified it for me, so I was at ease
I don't know when you guys found out about it, to be honest
You know, I spent a lot of time this summer with my son and their basketball tournaments and things of that nature
So when
When I hear about things, it's kind of shocking to me because I'm not even really on my phone that much as far as the, you know, the media's perspective, because I kind of try to give it a break, but I don't know when you guys heard about it, but when I heard about it, I just went to the source
To be quite honest with you, everybody wanted to see me fail
When I got to the league, everybody was just like, it's not
It's no way he's going to be able to exceed, you know, the expectations that's put upon him
There's no way
I seen, for the first time in a long time, I seen a commercial that was played before my first game
And when I rewatched it today for the first time, I was like, I think they was mentioning, like, all the greats that ever played the game of basketball
I think it was like Big O and Michael and Kareem and Kobe, and I forgot who all else was in that commercial
Whatever the case may be, could be wrong about some of the names that I mentioned, but it was
And then it was like, in the next one, LeBron James
And I didn't even see that commercial, but I was, like, watching the tay
I was like, what the hell? Like, that expectation on an 18 year old kid
Like, that was
That was insane to just think about it
And I was watching it today
I was like, I wish that on no kid and no sport to have, to have this type of pressure put on them, and everybody wanted to see you fail
So I wouldn't tell that 18 year old kid nothing
I would tell them just to do exactly what you're thinking
No matter what, just stay true to yourself, believe in yourself, and don't ever get too high
Get too high
They're going to try to knock you off, but at the same time, if you fall, just like the great lady Leah said, just pick yourself up and try again
And I've done that in my career
Appreciate it
Well, definitely disappointed
I can't sit here and say I'm not disappointed on not being able to land such a talent, but someone that I had great chemistry with and know I got great chemistry with on the floor that can help you win, you know, championships in my mind, in my eyes
But my focus has shifted now
My focus has shifted back to where it should be
And that's, that's this club now and what we have in the locker room
It's a quick pivot
Quick pivot
It don't take me long
It don't take me long
I don't get too excited about the possibilities of things that can be
I kind of envision myself on what it can, but I don't invest it all the way into until I know what's happening
And when it does not happen, I'm back locked in on the job at hand
So we had an opportunity
Our names was out there, the Lakers name was out there
We had an opportunity, didn't happen
We move on and we finished the season strong, try to get a bid into the postseason where I feel if we go in healthy and we compete
Second row
Brown looked like you sought out Michael after the ceremony
You had a moment with him
What was that like for you? And can you share anything about what you guys said? Let me switch about t
Let me switch you out
Um, yeah, because out of the
It was so much chaos going on after we all kind of split
Um, I did not want to lose the opportunity to, uh, to shake the man's hand that inspired me throughout my childhood
Haven't had much dialogue with him in my 20 years or 19 years in this
In this business
But part of me wouldn't be here without MJ's inspiration
Always wanted to be like him growing up, you know, it's crazy that the game winning shot tonight was a fade away, and it was inspired by MJ, you know, the way he wore his shoes, the way he wore his uniform
I mean, all the way down to some of the cars that he drove, how much he inspired me, and I didn't want to waste that opportunity, because we're not in the same building a lot and haven't been in the same building a lot throughout my career, and it meant something to me
No, I don't think it's about the win, the loss of this thing together
We don't have a lot of time to continue to not take step forward
We have to continue to take step four
A lot of these teams that we're playing have been practicing either one month or months in advance of
We're like maybe two weeks into together
So every game, every film session, we get an opportunity
We have to try to make the most of it, not take any steps back, and it doesn't matter, you know, when it comes to how close the game is or not
Did we get better? I feel like in the first half we allowed them to get comfortable
You know, it's our eight and threes
And then in the second half, we played our style of basketball and we only gave up 148, 44 points in the second half
That's pretty good compared to almost 60 in the first half, so that's good for us
No, we came in with the right mindset
I mean, they'll take nothing away from South Sudan
They played extremely good basketball and that's why the game is won in between the lines and not, you know, on paper
So, you know, they got better, we got better at certain parts of the game
And, you know, going to our next appointment, we look forward to that as well
That's another opportunity for us to get better and continue to improve, and it should be fine
When it comes to confidence, I think there's no substitution for the work you know, you just have to put the work in
The sport of basketball is what you want to do, and you have a passion for it and love for it
You have to put the work in and find ways to play the game, find ways to train, find ways to get better, watch the game, study the game, you know, and I think it all pays
I think it all pays off
I think when you give to the game, the game automatically reciprocates it to you and you're very passionate about, you know, giving it all and actually having a mindset of, like, I really love this
It's something I want to do
So I think it's all about the work
Trying to make it well, I mean, William is like a brother of mine
We had a lot of great times in LA
Fun guy, charismatic guy, loves the game
You know, I told him tonight I was proud of him as well, continuing his journey in the game of basketball
He's an inspiration to a lot of people
That's from where he's from
You know, I understand that we are as well, but it's always great to have someone in your home town, your home country, to be able to make it in the NBA or just play, you know, professional basketball, no matter if it's the NBA or if it's overseas
And you can use that as an inspiration when you have someone in your own backyard able to take it further than what other people, even people your own, you know, your own time believe sometimes
So I think Wayne is an inspiration to all his brothers and sisters around where he's from
I hope all my inspirations will
Yeah, the development of the game is worldwide
And I think South Sudan one is very well coached
Obviously, Royal Ivy over there has been around our game and been around the NBA for quite a long time
So he knows the game
Obviously
Luau Dang is over there as well, so he knows the game
So to have that representation, to have that type of leadership over there, teaching them the right way how to play the game, you know, it definitely is good
I mean, it's great, actually, you know, so, you know, the game is worldwide and it's not one place that, you know that you don't see the game being played
And, you know, I think that's the beauty of it
The game of basketball brings together so many people and you're able to build so many brotherhoods or sisterhoods or whatever the case may be by playing a game of basketball, and it can take you places that you just never thought you would be able to go
I didn't have any feelings, I didn't have any flashbacks
It was kind of like it was brand new because it was over twelve years ago when I was here, so
But it's always great to be back here in the UK, play a game that I love to play, representing USA and do it in front of fans that appreciate the game of basketball and appreciate what I've been able to do throughout my life and my career
So it was fun to get back out on the floor and just like, have fun, try to get better and be back
Like you said, be back in o two arena
As always, always a pleasure
There's been so many great acts here, not just in sports, but in entertainment
And whatever the case may be, it's a great place for a lot of people to come to perform
Happy to have been part of that legacy
Appreciate it
I think, well, first of all, you know, I wear the number because of Mike
I think I fell in love with the game because of Mike, just seeing what he was able to accomplish
But I felt like Mike was so, you know, when you're growing up and you seeing Michael Jordan, it's almost like a God
So I didn't never believe I could be Mike
So I started to focus myself on other players and other people around my neighborhood because I never thought that you could get to a point where Mike was
So I think that helped shape my game
And I think the biggest thing for me sitting here today after breaking the all time scoring record and playoff history is that I did it just being me
I don't have to score the ball to make an impact in a basketball game
And that was my mindset
You know, when I started playing the game, I was like, if I'm not scoring the ball, how can I still make an impact on the game? And it's carried me all the way to this point now, and it's gonna carry me for the rest of my career because scoring is not number one on my agenda
I don't have, I
I mean, you're on the green
I'm not a golfer
This guy right here to my left is, though, so he'll tell me what that mean
We get on the bus, drove the green, I'll tell you that
I think, Jason, at the end of the day, for my name to come up in a discussion with the greatest basketball player of all time, it was like, wow
Like I said, I did pretty much everything that MJ did when I was a kid
I shot fadeaways before I should have
I wore a leg sleeve on my leg and folded it down so you saw the red part for no reason
I wore black and red shoes with white socks
I wore short shorts so you could see my under shorts underneath
I didn't go bald like Mike, but I'm getting there
But I'm getting there
But it'd be post career, though
That's the only thing I didn't do
But other than that, I did everything Mike did
I even wore a wristband on my forearm, you know, so I didn't do the hoop in ring, either
That was Mike, but I did everything Mike did, man, I wanted to be Mike
And so for my name to come up in any discussion with Michael Jordan or Kareem and all these great guys that has paved the way for myself and Tristan and Kev and swish, it's like
So it's just a wow factor
I don't really have nothing to say
All right, last question down here on the right
That's
I mean, that's all part of the plan
It's been part of the plan since I really started taking this game serious, to say, how can I get the youth to feel like passing the ball is okay? Making the pass, making the extra pass is okay, drawing two defenders
And no matter if you win or lose and you make the right play, it's okay, you know, because like you said, scoring the ball is so heralded in our sport
And I just
I want the fundamentals of the game to be as great as they can be
And it's some kid or a group of kids from the west coast to the east coast to the midwest to the south, and everything in between, all around the world can look at me and say, well, I made the extra pass because LeBron made the extra pass, or I got a chase down block, and I didn't give up on the play because LeBron didn't give up
That would mean the world to me
So we'll see what happens
We'll see what happens
Appreciate it
Thanks, everybody
There is something about this company that feels, not to be glib about it, but very l
In many ways, walking around, seeing people
What do you take from sort of LA that informs what this has become?
One, try to be better than me
Use me as much as you want
Use what I do
You can use my platform
You can use my words
You can use, you know, the inspiration that I try to give
But any way you can be great at doing what you love to do, you got to commit to it
You can't want something but not put in the work, you know? And it doesn't matter what you're doing in life, no matter what it is
It could be a professional athlete or it could be an artist
It could be a doctor
It could be anything in the world, a president of the United States
But you got to put the work in
And I think if you put the work in, the results will happen organically
And most importantly, you got to find happiness, too
You know, if you're having fun, enjoying what you're doing, then it just makes
It makes it so much easier
It makes it so much easier to just, like, you want to do it every day because it's something that you really enjoy doing, and you don't look at it as work
I mean, it's
It's not
It's not about just
It's not a lot
It's not about a little girl or a little boy or whatever the case may be
If you want to play, then you got to put the work into it
You got to put the work into it
And
And it really can't be much excuse
You don't need much to play the game of basketball
You know, my first basketball, who was literally was
It was a crate, a milk crate that I cut the bottom out and nailed it to a telephone pole, you know? And so, you know, just
Just play it as much as you can
Learn about it as much as you can watch it
You know, I was watching the game of basketball a lot, too, when I was a kid, when I wasn't able to play it
Just trying to learn, learning from the best, you know, seeing the intricate parts of the game, how important a bounce pass is, how important a chess pass is, how important, you know, just being a great teammate and things of that nature
So this game is the most
It's the most beautiful game in the world, and it gives back to you when you
When you commit to it and you put all your
Your passion and your love and your joy and your cry and everything
Got the name
Good
Lt will do an intro for you
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome LeBron James
Before I get started on the speech that I have, I want to acknowledge audelize that was lost Sunday morning
Alyssa Altobelli, John Altobelli, Carrie Altobelli, Peyton Chester, Sarah Chester, Christina Mouser, Ara Zalbania, Gianna Bryant, and Kobe Bryant
Now, I got something written down
They asked me to kind of stay on course, or whatever the case may be, but Laker nation, man, I would be selling y'all short if I read off this shit
So I'm gonna go straight from the heart
The first thing that come to mind, man, is all about family
And as I look around this arena, we're all grieving, we're all hurt, we're all heartbroken
But when we're going through things like this, the best thing you can do is lean on the shoulders of your family
And from Sunday morning all the way to this point, now, I heard about Laker Nation before I got here last year, about how much of a family it is
And that is absolutely what I've seen this whole week
Not only from the players, not only from the coaching staff, not only from the organization, but from everybody
Everybody that's here
This is really, truly, truly a family
And I know Kobe and Gianna and Vanessa and everybody, thank you guys from the bottom of their heart, as Kobe said
Now, I know at some point we will have a memorial for Kobe, but I look at this, I look at this as a celebration tonight
This is a celebration of the 20 years of the blood, the sweat, the tears, the broken down body, getting up, sitting down, everything, the countless hours, the determination to be as great as he could be
Tonight we celebrate the kid that came here at 18 years of age, retired at 38, and became probably the best dad that we've seen over the last three years, man, tonight is a celebration before we get to play
Love y'all, man
Kobe is a brother to me
And from the time I was in high school to watching him afar, to get in this league at 18, watching him up close, all the battles that we had throughout my career, the one thing that we always shared is that determination to just want to win and just want to be great
And the fact that I'm here now means so much to me
I want to continue along with my teammates, to continue his legacy, not only for this year, but as long as we can play the game of basketball that we love, because that's what Kobe Bryant will want to
So, in the words of Kobe Bryant, mamba, out
But in the words of us, not forgotten
Live on, brother
I had one coach, and he used to say, put yourself in situations where you're not in
You're not comfortable
Oh, yeah, that's my favorite saying
It is a question not related to the game, but since it has been a lot of publicity yesterday and today about godfather part two, which is the scene or the moment or the phrase or the quote? You like more from the movie? Oh, from the godfather
There's too many different phrases and too many different lines in that movie to just categorize one
But quit is the one
Quit inspiration represents you more
I mean, each movie is 9 hours long
I mean, what do you want me to do? I mean, there's so many
I don't know
I'll let you pick one and I roll with it
It's a great trilogy
Yeah
So you're holding the autobiography of Malcolm X along with Alex Haley
I don't know how far you are into the book, but what's your biggest takeaway so far? I kind of just started a couple days ago, but I've read and I
A lot of
A lot of notes over the years
It's my first time actually reading this from start to finish
But just a very, very smart man
Smart man
And basically his words, in the sixties and what was going on is actually what's going on today
I watched the whole game
I seen the whole game
I was at home watching the game
And, you know, I said he was going before the game even started
When I seen
I said he was probably going to score 70 tonight
I don't know what made me say that
And my friends was with me and they was like, okay
So when he got to, like, 70, I was like, well, he might as well go for 80 now
So, I mean, I'm a fan of the game, and to see that performance was unbelievable
2% of Liverpool, how does that come about? I read about the franchise and how amazing it is, and I actually made a trip over to Liverpool as well and see all the sights in the arena and everything
So it was pretty unique
Crouchy is actually a Liverpool legend
I don't know if you knew that
No, I knew that
No, I knew that
I didn't get an opportunity to see him play when he was with the club, but I definitely knew that
The current captain, Jordan Henderson, just scored his first goal for England the other day
It was amazing to see
You fan of his? No, absolutely
And I saw
And I saw a clip of that, too
I didn't get an opportunity to actually see the game live, but I saw that he was able to score one in the match the other day, and I thought that was pretty unique
The fact that he would do that and also be with Liverpool football club
I've been listening to those guys for so long
I was listening to those guys when I
My first year with the heat in 2010
You can ask any one of my teammates back then had no idea what Amigos was
They were, like, cursing me out when I would play it throughout the weight room or play it throughout the locker room
I was like, I'm telling you, these guys are next
I'm
Then, you know, right now these days, like, turn this off
I'm gonna hear this
Just fast forward to me just
Just knowing I take off personally and see
My condolences to Quavo and the family and the whole QC family
And everybody
Second thing I saw was three rims from being poked in eye on that previous possession when I drove to the hole and then in transition, so I just aim for the middle one
To the brown
LeBron James has a about a 40 inch vertical leap, unlimited range on his jump shot
But the strength of his game could be his passing
Last season, he won a second state championship and was the first sophomore named to USA Today's All America team
James outside for three
James is young enough to have been born during Michael Jordan's rookie season and talented enough that some say he might be the next Jordan
The two number 20 three's have already played together
James has created such a buzz that his team can no longer play here in its own gym
It's too small
They now play their home games at the University of Akron, where the capacity is about 6000
And you never know who might show up
James is already the subject of a sneaker war between Adidas and Nike
His high school wears Adidas, and James receives custom made sneakers complete with his initials and number
Nike says it's trying to build a relationship with James and his family, but can't sign him until he turns pro
To the basket, scores
Nice play by LeBron James
Thought about challenging an NBA rule which says you can't turn pro until your high school class graduates
He figured he's as old as Ty Tryon and he's a pro
James is 17
He's staying in school
He says he's thinking about college, but few expect him to go
In the meantime, the legend continues to grow of the schoolboy from Akron who some say just might be the next Jordan
Listen, I will call Kyrie the wizard all the time
Like, all the time
Like, there was nothing on the basketball floor that Kyrie couldn't do
And sitting here watching it, you know, I'm like, I'm playing, like, so fucking happy and so proud
And to watch him and continue his growth or whatever the case may be, and at the same time, I'm so fucking mad at the same time that I am not his running mate anymore
So I'm like, I just remember those times
And to
Back to what you were saying, jj, to have a guy like Kyrie Irvin as the ultimate wild cardinal, that's like having a draw four in your hand every time someone deals you cars in Uno
Like, every single time, because he has the ability to
Like you said, I saw him in game one, west conference finals, game one
You know, I think up until that point, I don't know the stat
Cause I'm not writing down the stats, and I don't call the games like you guys, but I think Kyrie was only averaging, like, eight points in the first half
Like, in the second round of the playoffs, you know, he was getting at 16 to 20 in the second half
But in the first half of games, you know, he was like, six
And you like, okay, you know
You know you're gonna have Kyrie in the fourth, but I need you sometimes in the first half, too, brother
But, like, what he did in game one, it was like, at a western conference
Finders, you was like
That was like, oh, shit
Dallas may be able to not only win the Western Conference finals, they might be able to win the whole thing because of that wild card
I have so many words to praise Kyrie that I end up with absolutely none, because it's just
It's so
He's the most gifted player the NBA has ever seen
He has the best gifts I've ever seen of any NBA player
I've never seen a guy in my NBA life that feels better at times shooting with his offhand than he does with his primary hand
If Kyrie's off in a game with his right hand, he will literally go exclusively to his left hand
I've never seen nothing like that
The shot, one thing I'm thinking, the shot that he made versus Denver towards the regular, end of the regular season on Joker
It's one of the most ridiculous shots I've ever seen in my life
He's just that special
Oh, my goodness
Absolutely
And by the way, we're both saying the exact same thing, and he's just
He's remarkable
I mean, obviously it's a really good feeling when you have it going and you're winning
That's the most important for me
But, you know, the appreciation for the fans here, you know, I just try to give them the game back and it was very well received and I just try to reciprocate that by going out and playing games
I love to play at a high level
I've been able to be on the floor a lot more during non game days
My footage felt a lot better
I didn't have much time to, like, really rep a lot last year because I had to make sure that I could be on the floor running around or putting, you know, much, you know, pounding on the floor with my foot
So I've had a lot of opportunity to, like, get on the floor, see me for every game out on the floor, working on my game, working on my craft
So that that's helped out a lot, too, and try to stay consistent with my shot, same shot every time and just work, work, work, work, work
The fourth when they cut it to eight and
Yeah
I mean, obviously the long ball in our game is definitely a momentum shifter, you know, so, you know, obviously cam got it going and I hit a couple threes and cut it to, I think, eleven before they eight
They got the eight
They got the eight at the end of the third and they got the eight early in the fourth
So just trying to make my mark, see if I can get it going, too
You got to be able to score in this league as well
You know, you got to be able to stop, but you got to keep scoring, too
And I was able to
I was able to get a hot streak
Well, I don't never have to lean on it, because I can do so much
I can score at any level on the floor
You know, basically, once I cross half court, you know, I can score in the post, I can score off pick and rolls, I can score off the ball of cutting or being a recipient of my teammates making a play for me
But, you know, being able to have a growth mindset and be able to work on things that the league is changing, too
You know, the league is a heavy three point shooting league
I'm not a, you know, one of those guys that want to go out there and shoot, you know, 12, 14, 15 threes a game, but I want to be respected, and teams have to play me from the outside
I know that's still kind of one thing that teams still want to be like, okay, if you have to give up something, we much rather shoot the ball from outside
But, you know, shooting the long ball and also making my free throws, that's very important for me this season, in the last few seasons, obviously, which I could give
First of all, I just told him, happy to have you back, man
Congrats and happy to have you back out there
And obviously it's going, you know, first action in so many months, you know, legs and your lungs is gonna be the first thing to go
But I thought he was great in the minutes that he was out there
It was great to have him back
Last two second game
Thomas has had a big swirl night on you guys
Just curious in your opinions of Kim as an emerging young score
He does that to everybody
Last question
How long? Nine out of ten
At your age and with your
Not very long
Not very long
I'm on the other side, obviously, at a hill, so I'm not gonna play another 21 years
That's the damn sure, but not very long
I don't know when that door will close as far as when I retire, but I don't have much time left
Thanks, Ljdem
First of all, you tip your hat to them
Defending champions, super, super, great team, super well coached, and you tip your hats
I mean, they made the plays down the stretch, you know, to win this series, you know, so you get credit with
Credit is due, that's for sure
No, I just want to get home to the family, honestly
Start looking at the schedule
Obviously, I got, you know, my son, one of my boys, is just trying to decide if he's going to enter the draft or go back to school
I got another kid that's playing au ball right now
My daughter's playing volleyball, and my wife is doing so many great things
So it's about family right now
And then in a couple months, I gotta go to Vegas for training camp, so I gotta rest my body for USAB
But that's kind of the initial thoughts
I don't know
I haven't given much thought lately
Obviously, I thought about it in the past, but then of the day, the kid
The kid has to do what he wants to do, and I don't even want to say kid no more
The young man will decide what he wants to do and how he wants his career to go
So I just think the fact that we're even having a conversation is pretty cool in the sense of that, but we'll see what happens
I don't have an answer to your first question, to be honest
Haven't given it much thought
Obviously, at some point, I'll sit down with rich, my agent, and sit down with my family and see what's best
What's best for my career
So we cross that when we need to
How taxing is very taxing, mentally, physically, spiritually, everything
I mean, to be able to just play this game alone and then to try to play at a higher level is very taxing
It's a lot of dedication, a lot of hard work and a lot of long hours
So, you know, it's very taxing
But, you know, it's rewarding because you, if you love the game and you love the process and you love being great, then you don't mind, you don't mind taking the tax on your body and your mental and your psyche and things of that nature that comes with it
So it's okay
No, because we lost
I don't, I don't, I'm not a participation guy
We lost and, you know, you move on and see how you can get better
But, you know, our season has been derailed all season with just like injuries and guys in and out and, you know, I talked about it all year
He was around us all year
I said, I don't, but it's hard to say who we are, what we can be because we have yet to be whole
I think we was only probably whole maybe one or two times this year, and I know one of them was during the in season tournament
We got whole and we showed what we was capable of doing, but we were just hit with injuries after injuries, after injuries, and it was just hard to, it was hard to come back from that
Mike, overcome with emotion, is exactly how I would describe LeBron's reaction as he shares a hug with Kyrie
We'll get in a minute
But he is still crying tears of joy
Lebron
No, no worries, Kyrene
LeBron, as soon as that buzzer sounded, your emotions let loose
Can you describe what you're feeling right now?
Oh, LeBron, you did what no other team had been able to do, coming back from a three to one deficit in the finals
And to do that, you had to win twice in a place that proved too much for so many teams
What did you find in game five here?
Well, she, in a few minutes on the podium
How do you cope with that when you have games like that you guys usually win? Well, you cope with it by understanding it's just one game and looking at the opportunity we have on Tuesday force a game seven
Obviously
You know, for myself, I want to do whatever it takes to help our team win and I haven't been able to do that the last two
So hopefully I could do a better job coming in on Tuesday
We all as a unit can do a better job and
And we'd be fine
I thought he was great
I mean, you tip your hat off to a guy like that
I mean he made his seven threes
I don't know if it was any of them
Not contested, hand in his face, falling, step backs off dribble
You know, I'm okay with that
We're okay with that
I mean, you know, you tip your head to a guy who makes shots like that and he's the guy that can do it in our league
He's the best shooter in our league
So that's not what we lost
I mean, we give up
We give up 18 fast break points, you know, we give up 15 2nd chance points
You know, Steph was special, obviously, but, you know, him hitting those step back threes is not why we lost the game
Nah, I feel confident because I'm the best player in the world
That's simple
A few things there
So, like with the three ball, we've seen it so often now, no lead is really safe
Think back to early in your career
I came in the league in 0607
I played no minutes my first two years
Yeah, but you know what? If we had a 19 point lead going to the fourth, I might get all twelve minutes of garbage time
For sure people would clear their benches
This was 15 years ago
For sure people would clear their benches with a 17 point lead in the fourth
Nine minutes to go
You can't do that anymore
It's interesting you bring up Steph, because
A long history of great players that have impacted the game, and you can see a lineage between different skill sets
Right
Michael to Kobe
Right
You can see that
I don't know that there's been a player that has influenced the game more than Steph
And you can certainly point to Hardin for sure in that era
Damian Lillard, for sure
But you're right
It started with Steph
Sure
I have an arm sleeve because of Alan Ivanhe, like, no bullshit
Listen, no bullshit
And Steph, I think he changed the influence with Steph, I think, is like, he fundamentally changed how we viewed how the game should be played with the three point shot, do you think? Cause part of the Steph thing in this three point revolution for a fan is that we have now simplified the NBA
All right, we're just gonna shoot a bunch of threes
My question to you, going back to that basketball intelligence piece, does the game require more basketball intelligence now or does it require less than when you first started
Alright, guys, if you like that video, please hit that subscribe button
Thank you for watching
We'll be back soon
I'm obsessed with it, with winter bus
And what makes me have sleepless nights is when you don't have everyone that feels the same way on your club
Like, it's times where I wish I was, like a tennis player or a golfer, where it was literally like, look in the mirror, mother is you versus you
There's no pressure
There's no pressure at all
I've been getting pressure since I was ten years old
I don't think there's no pressure for me because I'm doing something that I love to do, that's play the game of basketball
I think your surroundings, growing up, turns you into a dog
It's just in me, man
I love competing
I love winning
I love just, like, playing the game
Cause, I mean, I know at some point I ain't gonna be able to play it no more
Well, at that level, every season is like a movie, and I'll just
I'm, like, living in it like I'm the star in the movie
Like, I feel like Batman, Black Panther, all of them
Not only did I wanted to inspire to be a basketball player and or a football player professionally, to get my mom out of the situation, I wanted to have kids early to prove to my father that the way you did it was the absolute wrong way to do it
And I wanted to break the mold to where I want to be there and give him all the life skills I want to, you know, tell him, this is what your dad went through
This is how you approach it
This is how you go through it
Whenever I have a kid, not only is it going to be a junior, I'm going to do everything that this man didn't do
They're going to experience things that I didn't experience
Only that I could do is give them the blueprint, and it's up to them to take their own course
Whenever that time happens, all you can do and hope at the end of the road is that you've given your kids enough life lessons to where when it's time for them to live their life, then they can flourish on their own
I wouldn't pick my kids to stop playing ball, but I will stop ball to make sure my kids are straight
Everyone is so happy when we all on the same level
Exactly
And as soon as you able to become a little successful with anything in life, even as a kid, even as a 14 year old, 15 year old, people envy that
Of course I changed
I'm trying to better myself
Why haven't you changed? And that's the things that you have to deal with
Even as a kid growing up playing ball, I knew when I got drafted as an 18 year old kid that I could play the game of basketball and play it at a high level, even against grown men
One thing I didn't know is that the success I would have, I prayed on the success
I worked my tail off for the success, but had no idea the success I had
And it's just been very humbling and gratifying
The best teacher in life is experience, and I think over the course of my career, I've just gotten better with every facet of my game
There were times where I didn't really have a low post game
I wasn't a low post threat
There was times where I wasn't a threat from the mid range
There was times where I wasn't a threat from the outside
There were times where you could literally just try to bait me into doing things that I wasn't great at
For me, I always told myself, I'm going to commit to the game
I'm going to train, I'm going to prepare myself physically, mentally, spiritually, to give to the game
If you want to be great, it's a very, very small number of people who get the opportunity to do what we do and inspire people all over the world
For me, I'm trying to push the limit
What's the limit? I don't know
I hope
I don't know
I hope I never see it
To feel that adversity, to feel that tension is what brings out the best in us
You know, your whole motivation, besides trying to win the game, obviously, is to shutting up the opposing fans and opposing crowd
I set out a goal two years
When I came back to bring a championship to the city, I gave everything that I had
I poured my heart, my blood, my sweat, my tears to this game
And against all odds, against all odds
I don't know why we want to take the hardest road
I don't know why the man above gives me the hardest road, but it's nothing man above gonna put you in situations that you can't handle
And I just kept that same positive attitude
Like, instead of saying, why me saying, this is what he want me to do, I'm true to the game, and I know what I bring to the table
And I came back for a reason
I came back to bring a championship to our city
I knew what I was capable of doing
I knew what I learned in the last couple years that I was gone
And when I came back, I knew
I had the right ingredients and the right blueprint to help this franchise get back to it, to a place that we've never been
At the end of the day, the man above has given me a guide giving ability, and I just try to take full advantage of it, win, lose or draw, no matter what
At the end of my career, you would never get someone to say that he didn't leave it out on the floor
Wins and losses and ties and things that happens throughout the course of life, it's just how you pick yourself up
It's how you continue to get better and better
And the difference between me and a lot of other people, or a lot of people play the game of basketball, they get so in depth and so deep about, you know, putting everything in the game of basketball
I'm just
I'm true to who I am
I'm true to my family, I'm true to my teammates
I'm true to my craft
And then at the end of the day, whatever happens, happens
So, you know, I could care less about a finals record
I could care less if I don't, you know, play well at this game or, you know, if my teammates don't show up because I know how much I put into the game, and nobody can ever take that away from me
As far as being an NBA player, how to approach it, how your body and things of that nature, you know, how do you continue to, you know, stay consistent? I've learned all of that on my own, all on the fly, because I never had somebody that I could go to, and nobody ever kind of lended their hand to me
So I've kind of just figured it out
I never cheated the game
I never cheated the game
I never cheated the process
But for me, off the floor, I think me having my own school in my hometown, me inspiring kids all over the world, being active in politics at times or social justice and things that goes on in regular life, those are the things that I hope people talk about as well, because those are things that last forever
I hope that we've instilled enough vision in them that they look and see the passion that we put into what we do on a day to day basis
You just hope that you've done enough
I've had goals throughout my whole career, you know, on the court
I wanted to be the rookie of the year
My rookie year
I wanted to be an all star
I wanted to win championships
I wanted to be the mvp of the league
I wanted to be defensive player of the year
I wanted to lead the league
And assist
I never, ever was like, I want to break the all time scoring record
I've always prided myself on saying I want to be the greatest ever played this game
And that came from a motivation to myself
My drive to be the greatest of all time
Every so many years, they come out with a new roller coaster, and we've spent plenty of times going up and just testing out the new roller coaster
Many highs, many loops, how fast it is, whatever the case may be, and you get off just feeling so much excitement and just feeling alike
I want to do it again, and I think my career has been like that
You know, your stomach drop at times, you're excited, you're yelling
Sometimes you can't hold your
You can't breathe, but you always want to do it again
It's been a pleasure and an honor so far in my career within these 20 years, that through the ups, through the downs, through the ins and outs, through the trials and tribulations, I've always had maintain me, and I've done it my way
I didn't want to emulate anybody
I wanted to give praise to everyone that came before me
I wanted to acknowledge that I'm a historian of the game, but I didn't want to emulate nobody
I wanted to be myself
You know, if you stay true to yourself, I think you always feel better about the outcome
Win, lose, a draw in life
You feel that you're never going to make it out
You feel like the statistics are built up against you
You feel like the system is built against you to not succeed
You feel like there's no way that you're ever gonna have an opportunity for your dreams to become a reality
I had dreams every day of playing in the NBA
I had dreams every day of being an inspiration to so many people
I always felt it was my job and my responsibility to come out and play the game at a high level and be as great as I can be, because there is a kid in the inner city somewhere that's looking for inspiration, and that's gonna need it and maybe get it from me
So I'm LeBron James from Akron, Ohio, from the inner city
I'm not even supposed to be here
That's enough
Every night I walk into the locker room, I see a number six with James on the back
I'm blessed
So what everybody say about me off the court don't matter
I ain't got no words
Jackson's
He get a champ because in game, not many guys in NBA history have done it, so it's rare
Yeah, that was the first time he did it in the game
So we were super impressed
He was super casual with it, but he has that
He has that ability, obviously
Of course
Yeah, of course
The game dictates itself when you play the game
However, the chips may fall
And today we had an opportunity to bump the lead up in the third and started fourth
We kind of kept going early on, then we got to shut down, so that's good
It all depends on how I'm feeling tomorrow
You know, obviously I feel like I just played a game
Obviously I prepared that way
So that's out for tomorrow
I guess absolutely helps
Every minute counts
They were to get back here and get going on the treatment, my prep to start preparing my body, hopefully for tomorrow night
It's always been mutual respect and love
Every time I come here and play here throughout my career, they showed me nothing but love, even throughout the battles and the whole season
Whatever the case may be, these fans are always appreciative of myself and I just try to always give it back to them when I step on your floor
It's not always their job to come in and carry a big goal to scoring, but we know the ability of Spence
He can get it going
We saw what he can do
We know TP can get it going at times, you know, especially from the perimeter
But tonight he was super aggressive
In the end, you know, Max
When Max has gotten his number card, he's always stayed ready, even as a young kid
We love that
He's always ready to come in and give us a punch
So that was good to get him going tonight for sure
Of the best players I ever played with
Obviously, his iq was out of this world, and I was very lucky to get the team up with him at that point here
When I was in LA, obviously being in LA and him coming to the Lakers, I was ecstatic about that
I knew what we could accomplish together
Doe always talked about if he ever teamed up with me, he knew we could win a championship
We did that
And then just being a fierce competitor throughout my career, when he was in Boston, obviously our battles that we had when I was in Cleveland and going to Miami, guys, he got everything out of his career and more, you know, two time champion, multiple all stars
A couple years, he maybe land a league and assist or was up there
Just a spectacular player
Well, I don't know where it came from, but at the end of the day, Bronnie's his own man
He has some tough decisions to make, and when he's ready to make those decisions, he'll let us all know
But as his family, he'll support whatever he does
Last question
Don't turn the ball over because that fuels home teams for sure
It gets the crowd involved
We got a defensive rebound and we're able to stop them in one possession
We got a clean glass, and then we got to keep them up to three point line because they shoot the ball particularly well
Three point line and get back in transition
I'm on fire
LeBron, last question
I said at the beginning of the show, I wish that I would have had this moment, the chance to pass up Kareem
You now pass up Kareem Abdujibar
I know what my attitude would have been
Does this now make you the greatest player of all time? Are you now the goat? You know, I'm gonna let everybody else, you know, decide who that is or just talk about it, but it's great
It's great barbershop talk
I want to hear you say, listen, big fella
Listen, big fella
I want to hear you say it
Brown bro
Me personally, say it with me
I'm gonna take myself
I'm gonna take myself against anybody that's ever played this game, you know, but everyone's gonna have their favorite
Everyone's gonna, you know, decide who they
Who their favorite is
But I know what I've brought to the table
I know what I bring to the table every single night and what I can
What I can do out on this floor
So, you know, I always feel like I'm the best ever played his game
But, you know, there's so many other great ones, and I'm happy to just be a part of their
Part of their journey
I appreciate you
Rod, what wine you drinking tonight? I know you're drinking some good vino
Yeah, we drinking some good vino tonight
And we're going to have a little low boats on tap, too, so
Yeah, it's going up tonight for sure
Congrats
Congrats
All right, big fella
Love you, baby
I can't say what I've laughed
Can't say what I'm saying
I can't say what I'm laughing at, either
You don't want to play with me, then? That's not exactly right
Me, take your ass on that
Stay on that board
I know
Oh, this is going to be cool right here
Go ahead
It's you, Katie
It's all you
All right
That's must see
Five minutes
Come on, LeBron, just make him sweat it out
Just make him sweat it out
There you go
There you go
I'm gonna help Skadi out
Katie just needs size right now to me, I think
Remember last time? Remember last time, LeBron said he needed sides for the 6th guy
He needs sides
I agree
I agree
That worked out nicely
I mean, you can't let people run through the lane
Ask somebody defending back then
Chess, not checkers
Hey, I say, hey, when somebody want out, you let them go
Don't let them come back
I'm with you, KDE
That's how I cut my hair off
I was like, I'm gone
Who's that?
He got traded
He's healthy now
Hey, Lebron
Oh, my God
Trust me, right now, he's rubbing some ice hot on that thing
He playing the next game
No questions
Yeah, you can hide your face like LeBron's been doing
And you were like, you know what? I'm smarter
I'm wiser even than I was four years ago
You know what? That's not for me to decide
That's for everybody else
People are always gonna argue that
So, like, I viewed it as a moment of maturity
Right? Like, why is it that you took a step back in that moment, not saying that you changed your mind or any of that?
Yeah
And then people just move on
No more arguments
Because it's right now I would say, yeah, I mean, I'm living, always living a president
I don't know how frustrated I was after a loss
In the past
I think we played as well as tonight
We played as well as we've played all post season and we gave ourselves a chance possession after possession after possession, and that was just some plays that was kind of taken away from us
Simple as that
What do you mean, what's my version?
How do I know that?
No
They asked me if I talked to junior about it
I said no already
I knew it was a tie game
We was down one
George Hill went up, he made the first one
We got the offensive rebound
You know, I thought we were all aware of what was going on
That's my view
So I don't know what Junior was thinking
I don't know the question you're trying to ask
I'm not sure
No
I don't know his state of mind
Keep the main thing, the main thing, keep executing the game is not ever, ever over until it's double zeroes, which we see up there
So we just kept fighting, kept getting defensive, stops, making shots
I mean, it's very important
Obviously, you know, we know where we stand right now in the standings, but, you know, health has always been our kryptonite, but we're starting to get healthy
Cam made his 1st, 1st game back today in 14 games
So great to have him back and then everybody else shipped in for sure
I mean, he's an absolute beast
Defensive player of the year for a reason is going to continue to be great
So, you know, I've always felt like it's my job to continue to show the next generation away, show them the blueprint, no matter, regardless of sport
So it was a pleasure for me, and I hope it was for him as well
So, you know, just two kids just trying to be great
I appreciate it
Guys, back to you
Do it
Got the names
Lt will do an intro for you
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome LeBron James
Before I get started on the speech that I have, I want to acknowledge autolyze that was lost Sunday morning
Alyssa Altobelli, John Altobelli, Carrie Altobelli, Peyton Chester, Sarah Chester, Christina Mouser, Ara Zalbania, Gianna Bryant, and Kobe Bryant
Now, I got something written down
They asked me to kind of stay on course, or whatever the case may be, but Laker Nation, man, I would be selling y'all short if I read off
The first thing that come to mind, man, is all about family
And as I look around this arena, we're all grieving, we're all hurt, we're all heartbroken
But when we're going through things like this, the best thing you can do is lean on the shoulders of your family
And from Sunday morning all the way to this point, now, I heard about Laker Nation before I got here last year, about how much of a family it is
And that is absolutely what I've seen this whole week
Not only from the players, not only from the coaching staff, not only from the organization, but from everybody, everybody that's here
This is really, truly, truly a family
And I know Kobe and Gianna and Vanessa and everybody, thank you guys from the bottom of their heart
As Kobe said
Now, I know at some point we will have a memorial for Kobe, but I look at this, I look at this as a celebration tonight
This is a celebration of the 20 years of the blood, the sweat, the tears, the broken down body that getting up, sitting down, everything, the countless hours, the determination to be as great as he could be
Tonight we celebrate the kid that came here at 18 years of age, retired at 38, and became probably the best dad that we've seen over the last three years
Mandy, tonight is a celebration before we get to play
Love y'all, man
Kobe is a brother to me
And from the time I was in high school to watching him afar, to getting in this league at 18, watching him up close, all the battles that we had throughout my career, the one thing that we always shared is that determination to just want to win and just want to be great
And the fact that I'm here now means so much to me
I want to continue along with my teammates, to continue his legacy, not only for this year, but as long as we can play the game of basketball that we love, because that's what Kobe bly will want
So in the words of Kobe Bryant, mamba out, but in the words of us not forgotten, live on brother