After comments on Anthony Davis and NFL owners, the Lakers star demonstrates again he can say what he wants by standing firmly behind his statements.
LOS ANGELES — Going about parsing LeBron James’ quotes by conventional means tends to fail.
Three days after what might’ve been an innocuous statement by any other player had set the NBA aflame, James was asked by a reporter to account for it. When he said he would like to play with Anthony Davis – which some NBA general managers and New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry equated to tampering – did he think he had done anything wrong?
“Wrong?” James repeated back to the press.
Some people thought it was wrong, the reporter said.
“So?”
The reporter couldn’t hear.
“So,” James repeated, breaking into a giggle.
The minute-long finish to James’ comments Friday night after a 112-104 win over the Pelicans was a reminder that James might just be the most powerful, most outspoken voice in sports. When he voices opinions, others tend to react. And it was all too clear that James relishes his ability to provoke, to stir the media into a frenzy and to be able to stand firm even when questioned.
This is LeBron James: He doesn’t care what most other people think.
He framed his comments about Davis as harmless, rhetorically prompting reporters to ask him about playing with Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, Luka Doncic and a number of other NBA stars. He would play with any of them, he said, because they’re all great.
The NBA has said in the past that players talking about other players cannot be construed as tampering, which James knows.
