LeBron James‘ “no-comment” answer and the unsolicited mention of the Anthony Davis trade were met with a firm response from the Los Angeles Lakers‘ newly-promoted team president Rob Pelinka.
“LeBron’s going to have high expectations for the roster and we’re going to do everything we can to meet those, but I also know that whatever it is, he’s going to still give his 100% every night, whether that’s scoring, assisting, defending, rebounding, or leading,” Pelinka said during his end-of-season press conference with coach Lakers coach JJ Redick on Thursday. “We know that’s going to always be 100% and never wavers.”
Following the Lakers’ elimination from the postseason on Wednesday night, James was asked how physically taxing it was to play small ball since Davis was traded for Luka Dončić.
“No comment, I’ll never say that, because my guy AD (Davis) said what he needed, and he was gone the following week,” James said in jest. “I got no comment. I put that uniform on every night, I gave everything that I had, and that’s all that matters.”
As they say, jokes are half meant.
The Lakers’ lack of size led to their early first-round exit — a five-game loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves — after earning the No. 3 seed and their first homecourt advantage since 2012.
LeBron Non-Committal on Future
The 40-year-old James was non-committal on his future with the Lakers organization and in the NBA.
“I don’t have an answer to that,” James told reporters. “Something I’ll sit down with my family, my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it and see what happens. And just have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play.”
James has a $52.7 million player option for next season, which he has to decide on by June 29.
“You don’t know what the roster will look like next year besides the guys that are locked into contracts,” James said. “[Expletive], I got a lot to think about myself. So I don’t know what the roster will look like. I don’t know where I stand right now.”
The Lakers do not have enough cap room in the offseason to sign a significant addition in the free agent market if James opts into his player option.
Playing Hurt in Game 5 Loss
Even if the Lakers survived in Game 5 and stayed alive, they would have played without James for the remainder of the series.
It turned out James suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee during the fourth quarter of their 103-96 loss in Game 5, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported on Friday.
It was a double whammy for James on Wednesday night as he suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee during the fourth quarter of their 103-96 loss in Game 5 that sent them to an early vacation.
James sustained the injury after colliding with Minnesota guard Donte DiVincenzo with 8:39 left in the game. The Lakers superstar momentarily subbed out and got his knee checked before returning and courageously finishing the game.
James finished with 22 points in 40 minutes but only had five on 2-for-7 shooting in the fourth quarter.
According to McMenamin, James’ recovery timeline is three to five weeks, which makes him ready for the training camp if he decides to return for his 23rd season.
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