The Lakers defeated the Mavericks comfortably tonight in a 124-104 win at the Crypto.com Arena. LeBron James led the Lakers and became the oldest player in league history to record a triple-double: 28 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds while shooting 10-20 from the floor (50.0 FG%) and 2-7 from beyond the arc (28.5 3P%).
But before the game tonight, he sat down with his podcast co-host, the NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash, for a conversation on the sidelines on the eve of the All-Star weekend for Prime’s coverage of the league to discuss what’s happening around the league and the Lakers in particular.
“I heard Wemby say that, and a couple of other guys say that. I’ve seen KD’s remarks as well, so it’s an obligation to play the game we love at a high-level especially for the fans and the people that love our game,” said James when Steve Nash asked him about the narrative around the All-Star game.
While James acknowledged Victor Wembanyama and Kevin Durant’s controversial remarks, he did not seemingly address them directly since he was in a conflicted position with his teammate, Luka Doncic.
Subsequently, Nash asked him to talk about his teammates, Doncic and Austin Reaves. James credited Doncic’s ability to read defenses, anticipate play development, and the reaction of defenders.
“One of the things you see in great playmakers is that they see things before they happen. Luka has that vision and anticipation of knowing things will happen before they happen,” said James.
Furthermore, Nash dove into what the process of recruitment was like for Austin Reaves, seeing his development over the years. James went back to recalling what it was like when he first saw him play and how he has improved since.
“When we got him, I went back on YouTube and watched a lot of his tape and a lot of his games, and I did see the shiftiness. I saw a lot of left-right crossovers, right-to-left crossovers, snatchback threes, things of that nature.”
“And you could see that shiftiness and say, ‘It’s not a regular white boy right here. He’s playing the game.’ You’re like, ‘he’s got some sauce to him. You know, when you have guys that can process and store information and execute it with talent, you’re like, ‘that guy can make things happen in our league.'”
“And listen, the guy does two things: he plays golf, and he plays ball, he’s not a guy that worries about anything else. He cares about his family, he cares about the game of basketball, and he cares about his swing, so I can respect that,” concluded James.
James surpassed Karl Malone’s record tonight for being the oldest player in the league with a triple-double. Heading into his 22nd All-Star game, James assures he will play at a high level whenever he gets on the floor during the coveted weekend.
Considering the amount of drama that has surfaced in the build-up to the All-Star game, it will be interesting to see how the Lakers’ veteran superstar steps up to set the standard for other players to follow.
