Tag: LeBron James

LeBron thinks not drafting Dalton Knecht means that 16 other NBA teams ‘[expletive] up’

Knecht looks even better than expected.

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht just had his best game as a pro, recording 37 points against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

It was an outstanding effort from the former Tennessee star, who was also 9-of-12 on 3-pointers during the win over the Jazz in NBA Cup play. That tied a league record for most 3-pointers ever made by a rookie, which is no small accomplishment.

When asked about how the Lakers were able to find Knecht, it didn’t take long for LeBron James to admit exactly what happened. Los Angeles didn’t exactly “discover” some secret talent with Knecht.

Instead, according to LeBron, the other 16 teams that did not pick him in the 2024 NBA Draft “[expletive] it up” and he then wondered if any of the talent evaluators and decision makers watched him play.

Knecht, who was named SEC Player of the Year and won the Julius Erving Award for the best small forward in the nation, was simply available when the Lakers were on the clock.

That serendipity worked out perfectly for Los Angeles, who now have a 23-year-old sharpshooter ready to inject life into a team coached by JJ Redick.

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Jonnu Smith says Dolphins teammate is ‘LeBron James of the NFL’

“The guy is 1,000 years old and playing like he’s 21.”

LeBron James will turn 40 next month, but the NBA legend’s production on the court doesn’t show it. The Los Angeles Lakers star is averaging 23.3 points, 9.2 assists, and 8.6 rebounds per game so far in his 22nd career season.

Miami Dolphins tight end Jonnu Smith says there’s a player on his team that has managed similar age-defying play.

“Calais [Campbell] is one of my favorite teammates in all the sports I’ve played,” Smith said Monday during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “He’s like the LeBron James of the NFL right now. As far as his age and the production that he brings to the game, still playing at a high level. The guy is 1,000 years old and playing like he’s 21.

“The best leader I’ve been around. Good dude, good person, deserves everything that’s coming to him.”

Campbell, 38, recorded his fourth sack of the 2024 season in a 34-19 win against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. It brought his career total to 109.5, moving him into a tie for 29th all-time. With two more sacks, he’d pass fellow future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald for 28th.

The Dolphins signed Campbell to a one-year, $2 million contract in the offseason. In August, he revealed it was “the cheapest offer” he received “by a large margin,” but he took the deal because he believed in the team.

When the Dolphins spiraled to a 2-6 start to the year, they reportedly received calls from other teams looking to acquire Campbell before the midseason trade deadline. But Miami spurned those offers to keep the 17th-year defensive lineman.

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LeBron James blasts ‘haters’ of Deion Sanders, Colorado

Deion Sanders and Colorado are 8-2 and LeBron James wants everyone to know it

LeBron James took to social media on Saturday after Colorado downed Utah to improve to 8-2.

The Los Angeles Lakers star put critics of Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes on blast after they picked up another big Big 12 win.

How is JJ Redick’s first season as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach going?

With the NBA season in full swing, here’s a weekly check on JJ Redick’s first season as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach.

[autotag]JJ Redick[/autotag]’s first season as an NBA head coach is off to a sound start.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Los Angeles Lakers have a 7-4 record to sit sixth in the Western Conference standings.

Redick and the Lakers have taken down some impressive teams early in the season as well. Los Angeles opened the 2024-25 calendar with a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, a Western Conference finalist last season, as part of a 3-0 start. The Lakers also took down perennial playoff teams like the Phoenix Suns and the Memphis Grizzlies, the latter of whom they beat just on Wednesday night.

Four-time NBA champion LeBron James, at age 39, has still played a major role for Redick’s team. James finished the Memphis win with 35 points, 12 rebounds, and 14 assists for his third straight triple-double, and the legend is averaging 24.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 9.4 assists through 11 games.

The Lakers finished with a 47-35 record in 2023-24, so the real test for Redick will come in the postseason, but Duke’s all-time leading scorer looks like anything but a disaster as he settles into his new position.

LeBron James had hilarious reaction to fan who encouraged his triple-double

This was such a funny move by LeBron.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James needed just one more rebound to record his second consecutive triple-double.

With two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the 39-year-old star pulled down his tenth board of the game against the Toronto Raptors. Immediately after grabbing the rebound, the four-time NBA Finals MVP pointed at a fan who was watching the game.

James was clearly aware of his accomplishment, which actually marked the second game in a row that he was able to achieve as much. But it seemed the fan was fully aware of what just happened as well.

After the game, James was asked about the exchange with the fan.

He spoke candidly about what happened in that moment.

According to James, the fan yelled “one more rebound” which got his attention.

So when he was done cleaning the glass, James made sure that he acknowledged that he was listening.

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LeBron James shares his interesting Duke basketball dream on social media

Turns out, everyone in basketball dreams about playing in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Even NBA legend LeBron James.

There’s not much LeBron James hasn’t done in the world of basketball.

The four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA MVP became the first player in league history with 40,000 career points near the end of last season, but since he got drafted straight out of high school, James never played for a college team. According to a Sunday social media post, however, it’s something he’s thought about before.

James shared a post on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) detailing his dream about playing for five-time national champion [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag].

“Just woke up from having a dream I was playing for Duke for Coach K inside Cameron Indoor Stadium!” James wrote. “It was INSANE in there. Told Coach K it was an honor to suit up for him and he said the same thing back to me. He’s such a LEGEND!”

James did play for Coach K at the Olympics in the past, winning gold in 2008 and 2012 with the legendary Duke coach.

James’ dream also took an interesting turn in the second half of his post, saying that Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre began performing a concert in the iconic Duke basketball arena.

“The roof inside Cameron damn near came off!” James said.

LeBron James posted a heartfelt message to his daughter after the presidential election

LeBron spoke with love about his daughter.

As the entire NBA took Tuesday off for Election Day in the United States and the results poured in, it took time for many folks to digest the news.

Even though sports is likely not on the mind of many Americans today after such an impactful political decision, the gravity of the results will certainly impact virtually everyone in America. That includes four-time NBA Finals MVP and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, who expressed his thoughts on social media after the election.

It isn’t easy to have the right words to say right now, but James immediately thought of his 10-year-old daughter Zhuri.

ELECTION RESULTS: It’s hard to write about sports today.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCCXdTjuoTh/?hl=en

Here is what James wrote on Instagram:

“HEAVY ON MY HEART & MIND THIS AM MY PRINCESS 👸🏾!! PROMISE TO PROTECT YOU WITH EVERYTHING I HAVE AND MORE!! WE DONT NEED THEIR HELP!”

James had a similar reaction when Donald Trump won the U.S. Presidential Election in 2016.

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LeBron James gave Matthew Stafford and the Rams a shoutout after their big win vs. Seahawks

LeBron James was watching the Rams’ wild win over the Seahawks and gave Matthew Stafford a shoutout afterwards

LeBron James has become a big Rams supporter since coming to the Lakers, often attending games at SoFi Stadium. He was watching when the Rams beat the Vikings in prime time last week and he was doing the same on Sunday afternoon when they took down the Seahawks in overtime.

After seeing Matthew Stafford throw the game-winning touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson in OT, James gave the star quarterback a shoutout on social media. He called Stafford “a beast” and was impressed by the Rams’ road win in Seattle.

Here’s his message on X, formerly Twitter.

The most expensive NBA trading card sales ever

There have been at least 26 sales of NBA cards worth seven figures and most of them involve Jordan, LeBron, Kobe and Curry.

We’re in the golden era of sports cards, with some being sold for millions of dollars. Though not as hot a property as some baseball cards, there’s a big market for the basketball stuff too. Per our research, there have been at least 26 sales of NBA cards worth seven figures.

Most of them involve Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry. One featuring the Warriors superstar actually tops the list of the most expensive sales ever.

The 2003-04 Upper Deck LeBron James Exquisite Collection Rookie Patch Autograph is the card sold most times in our list with 12. Other players that collectors are investing in are Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic. The trading card industry is booming and still growing, and we’re sure there will be new record sales soon.

For now, this is the all-time ranking:

What’s up with Bronny James keeping the nets after his first NBA basket? A brief debate.

What did you think of Cleveland cutting down the nets for Bronny?

Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Bronny James scored his first career NBA basket during a road game against his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.

It was a blowout loss for the Lakers against the Cavs, where LeBron James spent two different chapters of his NBA career. The most memorable moment of the game was when Bronny finally earned his first regular-season basket.

While it was an awesome accomplishment for Bronny, there was a surprising decision made after the game. The Cavaliers gave the rookie the net that was used on his first regular-season basket, which is a gesture usually reserved for when teams win the championships.

This was a special moment for Bronny, who basically grew up in that arena when his father played for the team. He may not get many opportunities for scoring much more soon, either, as he will soon play in the G League.

So we asked our staff what they thought of this decision by Cleveland.

What was your initial reaction when you saw this?

Michael D. Sykes: This was a pretty nice gesture from the Cavs, but it’s also kind of funny. Did someone just win a championship, or????

Prince Grimes: LOL

Blake Schuster: To laugh at the treatment given to a player that no one else would have ever gotten.

Robert Zeglinski: A cackle followed by a requisite eye roll.

Bryan Kalbrosky: I was frankly glad to see that someone has finally dethroned UConn as men’s back-to-back national champions!

What should Cleveland have done?

Michael D. Sykes: Nothing! The crowd had already given him an ovation and cheered for his first points. I think that’s more than enough for Bronny. He felt the love, I’m sure.

Prince Grimes: I didn’t have a problem with the net-cutting, only because it was Cleveland. Otherwise, I would say nothing. It was only funny because my brain associates net-cutting with winning a championship.

Blake Schuster: Look, I’m not trying to be a hater. It’s really cool that Bronny did this in Cleveland and even cooler that the crowd reacted the way it did. But cutting down the nets after a blowout loss is pretty cringe. Give Bronny a game ball in the locker room. Let LeBron hand it to him. Make it a moment, but let’s also stay in the right lane here.

Robert Zeglinski: The Cavaliers have a lifelong debt to LeBron James (for spurning them, then coming back) so they should actually grovel every chance they get. Abandon all concepts of self-respect.

Bryan Kalbrosky: They probably workshopped retiring his jersey and putting a statue of him next to the one they will eventually build out for LeBron, but I’m glad they realized that was a step too far.

What is a milestone for Bronny that deserves a red carpet?

Michael D. Sykes: He’ll be in the G League soon. So if he can actually get people to tune into G League games, feel free to give him another pat on the back.

Prince Grimes: The Lakers should do a whole Jumbotron presentation of his garbage time highlights on the night he gets his first start.

Blake Schuster: When he drops 50, he can cut down the nets for sure.

Robert Zeglinski: Plays any (read: absolutely any) non-garbage time minutes. Make him an MVP candidate for it.

Bryan Kalbrosky: They ought to do this for him at every arena if he scores. That doesn’t just include the NBA, by the way. When he is suiting up for the South Bay Lakers in the G League and goes 1-for-6 against the Sioux Falls Skyforce, he deserves that net as well. That is the G League affiliate for the Miami Heat, where LeBron won championships as well. It makes sense.

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