Tag: lebron james

Patrick Beverley says if LeBron James wants NBA to resume play, it’ll happen

Clippers guard Patrick Beverley believes in Lakers forward LeBron James. Not to beat the Clippers, of course. But in regard to LeBron’s wishes for the future of the 2019-20 NBA season and playoffs. Here’s the New York Post:

If LeBron James wants the NBA to return, then that’s what will happen. That’s Patrick Beverley’s prediction, no matter what Kyrie Irving, Dwight Howard or anyone else says.

The Clippers’ pesky defensive-minded guard went on Twitter to make that clear, writing Sunday that “Hoopers say what y’all want. If @King James said he hooping. We all hooping. Not personal only BUSINESS.”

James, who reportedly was not on the call, is believed to be in favor of the plan to return to action.

So far, the only official thing in the NBA’s possible return to action this summer has been the competitive format, including the number of teams (22) playing a limited number of games leading to what will hopefully be a complete playoffs.

Adam Sandler will reportedly star in a basketball movie produced by LeBron James

Here’s HollywoodReporter.com with some basketball entertainment news:

Adam Sandler is set to star in the Netflix film Hustle, with We the Animals director Jeremiah Zagar on board to helm and NBA superstar LeBron James set to produce.

In the drama, Sandler will play an American basketball scout who is unjustly fired after discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player abroad. He then decides to bring the player to the U.S. to prove that they both have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

Taylor Materne and Will Fetters penned the script. Happy Madison, Roth/Kirschenbaum Films and James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment will produce the pic.

The latest collaboration between Netflix and Sandler follows the streaming giant extending its partnership with the actor and his Happy Madison Productions by committing to produce four more films that will be distributed exclusively on the platform.

Norman Powell wins NBA East Player of Week

A surprise member of the Toronto Raptors stepped up and got himself named Eastern conference NBA Player of the Week today.

Over in the West, Lakers forward LeBron James, who averaged 29.0 points (.519 FG%), 10.3 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks as the Lakers finished the week 3-0 with victories over Philadelphia, Milwaukee and the LA Clippers, won the honor yet again.

James continues to lead the league in total assists (627) and assists per game (10.6), while ranking 13th in scoring (25.7). The 16-time NBA All-Star owns an NBA-record 64 career weekly awards, and he is the first Lakers player to earn three weekly honors in a season since Kobe Bryant in 2012-13.

But in the East, Powell earned the honor for the first time in his career. He became the 10th player in franchise history, joining Vince Carter, Chris Bosh, DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Jalen Rose, Mike James, Lou Wiliams, Pascal Siakam and Kawhi Leonard.

Powell helped lead Toronto to a 3-0 record this past week, scoring an Eastern Conference-best 31.3 points. He also posted 2.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting .561 from the field. Powell began the week with 26 points during Toronto’s 123-114 win Mar. 3 at Phoenix. He then scored a career-high 37 points Mar. 5 at Golden State and tied a career-high with six three-pointers Mar. 8 at Sacramento.

Powell was selected 46th overall by Toronto in the 2015 NBA Draft and is the second-longest serving player on the team behind only Kyle Lowry. He was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for April 2016.

LeBron James misses first game of season, Lakers lose to Nuggets

LeBron James finally missed a game this season, as the Lakers fell to the Nuggets Sunday. Here’s the Denver Post reporting:

The Nuggets strode into the Staples Center and rocked the Lakers 128-104 on Sunday night, improving to 20-8 and stretching their winning streak to six. They’ll go for seven on Monday night in Phoenix against the Suns.

Though James was ruled out with a rib injury — the first game he has missed all season — the Nuggets put together a fantastic collective effort that might have won them the game had he been healthy.

Paul Millsap scored 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, but his dogged effort on Lakers superstar Anthony Davis was arguably more valuable. Though Davis finished with 32 points, Millsap chased him around the court and hounded him as the Lakers fought fruitlessly to get back into the game.

And the OC Register:

Unlike his trademark unibrow, Anthony Davis does his best work in a pair.

That’s not to say that the 26-year-old’s 32-point, 11-rebound, four-block game on Sunday night didn’t make him look like a star. But the performance came without a win, which has become the ultimate bottom line in a Lakers (24-6) season with renewed championship aspirations.

It was telling that even as Davis checked back in to start the fourth quarter, the visiting Denver Nuggets (20-8) kept on pulling away. In a 128-104 loss — the Lakers’ third straight and the largest margin of defeat this season — it was clear that Davis sorely lacked his running mate, LeBron James.

The Lakers have gotten national attention all season — quite justifiably — but the Nuggets deserve big praise as well. They’re 20-8 this season and their win Sunday was their sixth straight victory.

They’re being led in scoring this season by Jamal Murray (17.5 ppg), Nikola Jokic (17.3 ppg), Will Barton (14.6 ppg), Paul Millsap (13.0 ppg) and Gary Harris (11.3 ppg). But defense is why the Nuggets are having an excellent year. They’re second best in the league in that department, only behind the Bucks.

 

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LeBron James discusses load management

“Load management” is getting more attention than it deserves. Only a handful of NBA players sit out sometimes, usually during one game in a back-to-back, and occasionally in other situations.

How does LeBron James feel about it? Here’s the LA Times reporting:

“If I’m healthy, I play,” James said after the Lakers’ 101-96 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. “I mean, that should be the approach. I mean, unless we’re getting to like late in the season and we’ve clinched and we can’t get any better or any worse, it could benefit from that, but why wouldn’t I play if I’m healthy? It doesn’t make any sense to me, personally.

“I mean, I don’t know how many games I got left in my career. I don’t know how many kids that may show up to a game and they’re there to come see me play and if I sit out, then what? That’s my obligation.”

The Lakers are 24-3 so far this season. That’s 27 games. LeBron has played in all 27.

 

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Anthony Davis scores 50 points in Lakers win vs Timberwolves

On Sunday, the Lakers beat the Timberwolves 142-125. The star of the night was big-man Anthony Davis, who is having as good a season as almost any players in the league.

Shooting 20 for 29, Davis put up 50 points, seven rebounds, six assists, four steals, one block and just one turnover in 39 minutes of action.

LeBron James also had himself a game: 32 points and 13 assists. And off the Lakers bench, Alex Caruso earned himself a mention: 6 of 11, 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

But Davis, who has gotten attention all season for his defense just as much as his offense, had as good a game as anyone has put up in the league so far this season.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported the following: “Davis became the third player to post 50 points on the Wolves this season while James was no slouch either with 32 points and 13 assists. Davis was an especially efficient 20 of 29 shooting and 10 of 10 from the free-throw line. He did a lot of work around the basket, and the Wolves had no answer for him defensively. ”

From the OC Register: “Davis’ prolific, proficient output — combined with James’ 32 points in 28 minutes — mitigated a productive night offensively by the Timberwolves, who shot 51.8 percent, had eight players score in double-digits and needed only until the start of the fourth quarter to exceed opponents’ 103.7 points-per-game scoring average against the Lakers.”

 

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LeBron James, Lakers play Cavs in Cleveland tonight

LeBron James and the Lakers visit Cleveland tonight to play a Cavs team that has been in shambles this season and looks nothing like the contender they were when LeBron was still on the squad. The game will be on national TV. Seeing the type of reception LeBron receives during pregame intros and an expected video tribute will be fun to watch. More on the game from Cleveland.com below:

Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson opted for the canned answer when asked about the importance of Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Just another game. Another game on the schedule,” Thompson said following shootaround. “Another opportunity for us to play at home and compete and be on our floor.”

Only it’s not. Wednesday marks LeBron James’ first return to Quicken Loans Arena since leaving the Cavaliers a second time in free agency.

Promos have been playing for weeks on ESPN. It’s one of two games nationally televised for the Cavaliers this season. This is the one fans have had circled on the calendar since it was released.

The Lakers through Tuesday’s games are 9-7 and the West’s 8th seed, while the Cavs are an NBA-worst 2-13 and currently dealing with a reported trade request/demand from veteran shooting guard J.R. Smith.

LeBron James makes Lakers preseason debut

LeBron James really is a Laker. It wasn’t all a dream.

In his first-ever preseason game in a Lakers jersey, James started alongside a backcourt of Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and frontcourt of Brandon Ingram and JaVale McGee. The Lakers lost, 124-107 to the Nuggets, but the far bigger story is simply that the Lakers’ LeBron era has begun.

As with all teams who underwent big offseason changes, the Lakers’ preseason will likely be filled with lineup and rotational experiments, and very limited playing time for James, who in this game played just 15 minutes, shooting 2-of-6 for nine points, three rebounds and three assists.

Standing out among Lakers starters was McGee, who shot 8-of-10 for 17 points and seven rebounds in just 20 minutes. The regular season starting center job could go to him, or to James or another forward. Right now, anything seems possible at that spot.

In the win for Denver, forward Juan Hernangomez came off the bench and put up 19 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Starting guard Jamal Murray scored 18. And Mason Plumlee contributed an impressive 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists in just 19 minutes.

LeBron James meets media as a Laker

Here’s ESPN.com reporting on Lakers forward LeBron James. That’s right. LeBron’s on the Lakers. The signing really happened this summer. It wasn’t all a dream. LeBron is a Laker. Accept this. Anyway:

Speaking with an all-business tone in his first press conference with his new team, LeBron James said the Los Angeles Lakers have “a long way to go” before getting on the same level as the Golden State Warriors.

James says he is excited to play alongside multiple ballhandlers but understands the Lakers may have to take their “bumps and bruises” early with so many new pieces.

“We got a long way to go to get to Golden State,” James said when asked if the Lakers can challenge the two-time defending champs. “They can pick up right where they left off, starting with training camp. … We are picking up from scratch so we got a long way to go. We can’t worry about what Golden State is doing. … They’ve been together for a few years now.”

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LeBron James will sign with the Lakers

The first 24 hours of 2018 free agency have been epic. After a large flurry of reported agreements late Saturday night as the negotiation period kicked off, Sunday evening multiple outlets reported that LeBron James has decided to sign with the Lakers. Here’s the LA Times with more:

After securing a commitment from LeBron James on a four-year deal worth $154 million, the Lakers agreed Sunday to one-year deals with three veterans.

They will pay Kentavious Caldwell-Pope $12 million, Lance Stephenson $4.4 million and JaVale McGee $2.4 million, according to people familiar with the agreements who were not authorized to speak publicly. None of the deals can become official until Friday when the league’s moratorium on signing contracts lifts.

Two contracts did become official. The Lakers signed first-round draft pick Moe Wagner, which means he cannot be traded for at least 30 days. They also signed Malik Newman, a rookie out of Kansas, to a two-way contract.

Caldwell-Pope spent last season with the Lakers on a one-year deal worth $18 million, after spending the first four years of his career with the Detroit Pistons. He hit the market late because the Pistons waited until mid-July to renounce their rights to him after they were unable to reach an agreement on a new contract.

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