LeBron James and Zion Williamson put on a show on Sunday night, as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 122-114. James finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists to lead the Lakers to the victory despite Williamson’s career-high 35 points and seven rebounds.
After the game was over, LeBron gave a shout out to Williamson, saying the NBA “is in great hands” and he’s happy to share the court with the Pelicans sensation, while crediting other young players.
"The league is in great hands with a guy like Zion, Ja Morant, Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Jayson Tatum and the list goes on and on."@KingJames loves seeing the next generation thrive 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/gpFZK78bPU
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 2, 2020
“It’s my obligation, it’s my job to continue to pass on the game to the guys that’s coming in after me. That’s just my responsibility. No one told me to do that, I just feel like it’s my responsibility to leave the game in a better place than when I had it. And when you see the class of guys that’s in our league right now — I mentioned Ja last night, you mention Zion tonight, you see Trae Young, you see Luka Doncic, you see Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell — you just see all these guys, all these young guys, the league is in a very good place.“And if I’m able to give my wisdom, the game, pass it down while I’m playing or after I’m playing, I feel like it’s my job. The game has given me so much since I started playing when I was eight years old, so it’s my responsibility. And anybody that says, ‘LeBron, why would he do that while he’s playing? It’s a sign of weakness, you know, it’s buddy-buddy with the guys he’s going against.’ Tell them to kiss my a–, all right? With a smile, too.”
Even though he’s praising these players, it doesn’t look like they’re ready to take over from James, who is still the ruler of the league with his Lakers.
LeBron James is averaging a 30-point triple-double when facing Luka Doncic, Zion Williamson and Trae Young this season. The Lakers are 7-1 in those games. pic.twitter.com/UAJNQtnedq
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) March 2, 2020
In the past, he’s praised all those guys for the things they’ve done on the court. More recently, he talked about Ja Morant after the Grizzlies surprisingly trashed the Lakers.
LeBron knows that Ja is unique 🙌 pic.twitter.com/4PR7aKd0FP
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 1, 2020
After that, he went to talk about Zion and the quality of the rookie, who is considered the future superstar of the NBA.
LeBron x Zion
The King had a message postgame for Zion 🤝 pic.twitter.com/i3dV2SNTan
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 2, 2020
LeBron and Zion sharing a moment postgame ✊ pic.twitter.com/DNBMah7Q6S
— ESPN (@espn) March 2, 2020
Just like Bron said, the league is in a very good place.
