Category: NBA Basketball

Fan captures video of LeBron telling ref he plays defense ‘it’s a new year’

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James joked to a ref regarding past headlines about him not playing defense, saying this is a new year.

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With the wins coming in and the defense of the Los Angeles Lakers shutting teams down on a nightly basis, the vibes are as good as they’ve ever been during the LeBron James era of the franchise history. And it was not long ago that things looked like they may never see sunny days again after injuries and trade rumors torpedoed their season.

But even before LeBron got hurt last season, there was a growing belief in basketball circles that him playing defense was a thing of the past. Even his best Cleveland teams were never elite defensively and it was basically an unspoken form of load management, within games. But James read all the headlines over the seven months that he was away from the NBA lights and he’s even using that perception in arguments with the referees.

Thanks to a fan filming court side at the right time, we have footage of LeBron joking to the referee that he may have heard “he doesn’t play defense” but that this season is “a new year.”

This is the kind of stuff that makes things like LeBron’s “#WashedKing” comments more acceptable, when basically everyone had previously accepted that he wouldn’t play defense in the regular season. This season, James has flipped the script on his defense as he is a key part of the NBA’s best defense while he is also leading the NBA in assists for the first time in his career.

LeBron may have given the comments he received a name and a title, but as he pointed out last night, he does have a bit of point: his defense has been different this season.

Anthony Davis finds shooting stroke in Lakers win over Thunder

On the same day that Anthony Davis said his shoulder was feeling better, the Los Angeles Lakers big man was on-fire from the field.

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Anthony Davis found his shooting stroke from the outside to finish with 34 points, LeBron James had a triple double and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a huge shot in the final minute to seal a 112-107 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. With the win, the Lakers improved to an NBA-best 12-2, which also happens to be the best start a LeBron team has had since the 2016-17 season.

Davis finished with 34 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals while James ended the night with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. With the triple double, LeBron became the first player in NBA history to record one against all 30 teams.

After closing the first half on an emphatic note with LeBron throwing down a lob from Rajon Rondo, the Lakers quickly found themselves on their heels against the Thunder who rallied to start the second half and closed the gap rapidly.

Dennis Schroeder provided 31 points in 27 minutes off the Oklahoma City bench to help them keep pace with the Lakers on a night where Davis had his shooting touch going better than he has at basically any point in the season to this point. Danilo Gallinari also had a solid game with 25 points.

Davis also hit on three 3-pointers for the first time so far this season, appearing to validate some of his statements from earlier in the day that his right shoulder was feeling better and was “getting closer to 100%.”

Oklahoma City stayed in the game in large part thanks to their scoring ability inside the 3-point line and their ability to draw fouls. The Thunder made things tighter with a couple of trips to the foul line by Gallinari to keep their hopes of the upset alive. The lead got to as low as 109-107 with 1:20 left but a 3-pointer by Caldwell-Pope put the Lakers up five to help put the Thunder away.

The Lakers have now won five straight games and they once again re-claimed the best record in the league, 1/2 game ahead of the 11-2 Boston Celtics.

 

LeBron James toys with Thunder, looking back after steal on way to dunk

LeBron James had some fun after a steal on his way to an easy dunk the first half of the Los Angeles Lakers game against Oklahoma City.

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are having quite a bit of fun these days. How could you blame them? They came into Tuesday night’s match up against the Oklahoma City Thunder with the best record in the NBA and the NBA’s No. 1 ranked defense.

With Oklahoma City coming in after a grueling loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, LeBron James and the Lakers came out with a lot of energy in the early going of Tuesday night’s match up against the Thunder. James and Anthony Davis, as has been the case the whole season, led the charge for L.A.

James brought that energy as much anybody on the Lakers team, with 13 points, four assists and five rebounds in the first half. That included this steal and dunk by James, where he looked back at the Thunder after his big play.

After saying that his shoulder was already feeling better, Anthony Davis backed up that talk with an fantastic first quarter of shooting. Davis went 7-for-11 from the field for 19 points, four steals and two assists as the Lakers amassed a 63-53 lead at halftime on Tuesday night.

LeBron James: Seeing Carmelo Anthony warm up in NBA again made me smile

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James caught some emotions after seeing his buddy Carmelo Anthony in warm-ups for Portland Trail Blazers.

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Earlier on Tuesday, LeBron James wasn’t quite sure whether he’d get to see his good friend and fellow 2003 NBA draftee Carmelo Anthony make his return to the NBA in his debut game for the Portland Trail Blazers against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Bu with the game airing on NBA TV and there being only four games on the schedule, as well as the Lakers playing 2 1/2  hours after the Blazers and Pelicans tip. With Anthony in the starting line-up, James may very well get to see him live. But just the sight of seeing him in his signature sleeveless hoodie was enough for LeBron to get excited, sharing that excitement on twitter.

Anthony last played an NBA game just over a year ago on Nov. 8, 2019, and with him likely going to the Hall of Fame when his career is finally over, this gives one of the greatest scorers in history the opportunity to leave the game on his own terms. While James is obviously a close friend, it’s clear that his love for the game and appreciation of Anthony’s career has him just as excited as a lot of people are to see Carmelo back on an NBA floor.

 

LeBron ‘looking forward’ to seeing Carmelo Anthony’s Blazers debut

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have a game shortly after Carmelo Anthony makes his debut for the Portland Trail Blazers.

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LeBron James isn’t sure he will be able to catch it but perhaps more than most people in the basketball world, he will be glued to his phone looking for highlights as Carmelo Anthony makes his return to the NBA later this evening as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Anthony and the Blazers, who will be without Damian Lillard on Tuesday night when they face the New Orleans Pelicans, will tip-off about two hours before the Los Angeles Lakers are set to face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center. Because of that, James thinks he’ll just have to settle for the highlights, which is exciting enough for him and several others.

LeBron says he believes Anthony will try to take “full advantage” of the opportunity, according to Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group.

James has been an advocate of Anthony being in the league, even if it ultimately couldn’t happen on the Lakers. Given Anthony Davis’ preference to play power forward as well as the presence of Kyle Kuzma, Anthony’s role on the Lakers would have been too redundant to really make a big difference.

With the Blazers, a team that is both injured and lacking in the front court, the future Hall of Fame forward will get a chance to exit the NBA on his own terms. While LeBron said his career is far from over, after seeing his friend Dwyane Wade retire last season, he’s got to be hoping for Anthony to have a similar ride off into the sunset.

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Lakers, LeBron James welcome Chris Paul and Thunder for Tuesday tilt

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers look to win their fifth straight game against a tough Thunder team on a back-to-back.

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The Los Angeles Lakers are back on the court Tuesday night and their favorable home schedule in the early season gives them yet another advantage heading into their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Thunder played a grinder last night against the Los Angeles Clippers, where they lost 90-88 in part thanks to a late replay challenge by head coach Doc Rivers. The Thunder are definitely a tougher squad than the Atlanta Hawks team that just did the same back-to-back, so the Lakers must be prepared for a much more put-together professional team.

LeBron’s best bud Chris Paul and second year guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander make up a phenomenal backcourt on both ends of the floor, which has helped the Thunder post an above-average defense even after losing Paul George in the summer. Steven Adams can still anchor the defense and will be a formidable foe for the Lakers centers in the middle. Danilo Gallinari also gives them a solid option on the wing to score.

However, the biggest issue the Thunder have, as they showed against the Clippers, is a sluggish offense. Even though they have Adams, they’re not a good offensive rebounding team and they currently play at the No. 25 slowest-pace in the league.

The Lakers have done their job over the first month of the season, beefing up on a favorable schedule and getting a few teams at home on the second night of a back-to-back. While the Thunder are a much more professional unit than the one the Lakers faced Sunday against Atlanta, While it will be tougher, The Lakers should continue the trend of taking care of business against overmatched opponents.

LeBron James daps up Kobe before hitting 3 in dominant Laker 1st half

LeBron James met up with Kobe Bryant as the Los Angeles Lakers had a great start Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Lakers fans had a Sunday of their dreams, especially in the first half of their game against the Atlanta Hawks. After celebrating Anthony Davis with some cognac last night, LeBron James and the Lakers burst out to 69-41 lead at halftime that included some incredible moments.

It began with Lakers legend Kobe Bryant being in the building as he promotes a new project and LeBron James went over to dap him up while he sat court side. James would immediately hit a 3-pointer for the Lakers, one of two 3-pointers and 17 points in the half and a monstrous plus-minutes of +41.

That wasn’t even the best highlight for the Lakers, however. After Atlanta briefly cut the Lakers lead to 10 points, the Lakers regained control to close the half but nothing made the Hawks look done more than an incredible tip-slam from Danny Green that made Dwight Howard lose his mind and the Lakers crowd go wild.

James also showed off his passing once again as he continued to build on his league-leading assist total.

The Lakers look well on their way to a 4th straight win, which would give them the best record in the NBA.

AD block on Barnes clean but missed foul on LeBron in win over Kings

The Los Angeles Lakers came out with a win on Friday night but the NBA’s last two-minute report said they missed an offensive foul by James.

The Los Angeles Lakers escaped with their third straight victory on Friday night after squeaking out a 99-97 victory over former coach Luke Walton and the Sacramento Kings. A huge block by Anthony Davis appeared to be the most controversial play of the night as he made a little contact with Kings forward Harrison Barnes, but the NBA’s review of the last two minutes from Saturday found something else wrong with the end of the game.

According to the league, LeBron James should have been called for an offensive foul on what would be a game-winning foul call on Barnes with five seconds left. James would make both free-throws and win the game for the Lakers.

The NBA has focused in on offensive players initiating contact with their off-arm all season long, calling several players who use that move for offensive fouls. The Lakers certainly got a little lucky on Friday with the call considering how much they’ve tried to call it, but it’s also somewhat of an accepted truth that officials usually let things go in the closing moments of a game.

Lakers look to continue winning ways against Hawks, Trae Young

The Los Angeles Lakers host one of the most exciting players in the game when they play Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers are back on the court Sunday night as they host an exciting Atlanta Hawks team that just came off an awful loss last night against the Clippers.

Trae Young had 20 points for the Hawks last night but they lost by 49 points, which means they’ll likely be much more focused for tonight’s game after getting embarrassed the night before. Young will be a challenge for the Lakers defense as his high pick-and-roll game is one of the most lethal in the NBA, even though he’s just in his second season.

Without Avery Bradley, Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will likely take the difficult task of guarding Young during the game but the Lakers team defense will be called upon, which shouldn’t be too big of an ask considering the Lakers are the best defense in the league.

Their size should be enough to disrupt what Atlanta is trying to do offensively with Young, especially because the Hawks are pretty inexperienced or not very good elsewhere on the team. Defensively, the Hawks also have trouble stopping people which should make for a great night for LeBron James running the show.

Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. PDT at Staples Center.

LeBron James hits clutch free throws to put Lakers past Kings

The Los Angeles Lakers earned their third straight victory thanks to 29 points and 11 assists from LeBron James on Friday night.

LeBron James had 29 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to their third-straight victory — a 99-97 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night. Thanks to a valiant effort from an undermanned but energetic Kings squad, the Lakers barely escaped.

Seven straight points from Bogdan Bogdanovic brought the Kings to 97-97 with just under 20 seconds left, leaving the Lakers and James with the final possession. The Kings’ Harrison Barnes was called for a reach-in foul on James with 5.5 seconds left. James made both free throws, leading to a final play for the Kings. Barnes couldn’t convert on the final lay-up attempt to send the game to overtime, however, thanks to an incredible defensive stop by Anthony Davis.

For much of the early going in Friday’s matchup, the Lakers appeared a little sluggish. But the Lakers closed the half with a fury, capped off by a dunk from James over Kings forward Nemanja Bjelica. Following the half, the Lakers rode that momentum and amassed a four-point lead after three quarters.

James was the catalyst for the Lakers all night long, scoring more than usual while assisting at his regular league-leading rate. With Davis back in the lineup, James once again enjoyed an efficient source of assists offensively and the safety blanket defensively that The Brow provides.

Still, even though the two stars played well, they were unable to pull away from a scrappy Kings team that came into Friday having won four of their last five games. The Kings had a lead midway through the fourth quarter, putting the Lakers on their heels on their home court.

James came out firing in the early going of the final period.

Up by three points, James missed a 3-pointer for the Lakers and then Howard was called for a loose-ball foul with 3:54 remaining. Richaun Holmes made two free throws to cut the lead to one, which was followed by a Lakers basket.

The Kings went to Holmes again, who was guarded by Alex Caruso, but drew a three-point play on LeBron James to tie the game at 90 with 3:25 left. A 3-pointer by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who had a huge fourth quarter, put the Lakers ahead. Caldwell-Pope had scored four points after three quarters but finished with 16 points.