Refs ignore LeBron’s pregame travel
Catches son’s game at Hall before tilt with Celtics
It was Celtics-Lakers night in Boston, but before LeBron James could attempt to dominate the parquet floor, his trip down The Pike commanded the day’s attention.
James went to Springfield to see his son, LeBron Jr., play in a high school tournament game at 1 p.m. And because it’s King James, the almost larger “news” was that he was making the round trip in a helicopter.
Big if true. But Laker types were insisting not before the game.
Just imagine how embarrassed the Globe would have been to spend all those hours and newsprint and bandwidth on the region’s traffic crisis only to have a professional basketball player figure an easy way around it.
A helicopter. Why didn’t I think of that? How much easier would the North Shore commute to the Garden be if I could look down on Bell Circle from above and pity the car-bound masses?
But the copter story was shot down from the sky by people in the Laker dressing room, though there was still some room for question.
When LeBron came to his locker from the trainer’s room about 45 minutes prior to tipoff, I asked him flat-out, because, you know, this is critical information. It was the end of media time in the room, so there would be no pregame audience with the King.
So just tell me if you took a helicopter.
LeBron smiled.
“I walked,” he said.
Yeah, but the refs didn’t call it.
Before the joyous intensity that is always Celtics-Lakers, the topic was certainly worth a laugh.
Avery Bradley spent six of his seven Celtic years living in Waltham, but he was content in his car.
“I’m not getting in no helicopter,” he said. “Never.”
As for the road congestion here, Bradley said, “Traffic’s actually not that bad, considering I live in L.A. Traffic is terrible. It takes an hour and 20 minutes to get to the arena. It takes 20 minutes to get home after the game.”
Jared Dudley spent four years at Boston College, and he found ways to get around with a helicopter or a car.
“People don’t realize that when I was at BC, you weren’t allowed to have a car on campus. Only the nurses,” said the 13-year veteran. “So for me, that made me learn Boston so much more because I was taking the T down to the Red Sox. I was more of a local. So, yes, in my bourgie state now, it would be perfect. But back then, I wanted to embrace the city of Boston, and that got me to go everywhere from Northeastern to Suffolk to Harvard. Now I know the city more because I know all the T stations.
“But I’d love to be a helicopter guy.”
On a more serious note, it was rather nice that James went to the Hoophall Classic.
“I’m happy he got to see his son play,” said Bradley, “That’s really cool.”
Celtic coach Brad Stevens was in agreement.
“First of all, that’s one of the things I appreciate about him,” he said. “I think he’s about a lot of the good stuff.”
Dudley, who’s been around the NBA block now with his seventh team, took it a step further.
“I’ve played with a lot of great players, and there’s been no better leader that I’ve played with than LeBron on and off the court,” he said. “You know, Steve Nash leads differently, Shaq leads differently, Chris Paul … but LeBron, when it comes to what he does pregame, weight room, team dinners, movies, getting on guys the right way, when to pick them up, when not to, he’s been the best leader I’ve had. So far, so good. We’re right where we want to be, and now we have to continue to improve.”
And, to be certain, the
Laker circus is unlike anything he’s experienced — helicopter tales an all.
“Way different,” Dudley said. “Way different. The Lakers’ brand, playing with LeBron — way different. It’s been good because there’s expectations playing on a team that has a chance to win. The expectations are to win, so people’s mindset, preparation, everything, it’s heightened to the top level.”
For L.A. coach Frank Vogel, whose NBA career started in the Celtics’ video room, it’s a matter of blocking out the noise from metaphorical copter blades.
“I saw him in the meeting this morning, saw him on the phone this afternoon, saw him at the game (Monday night),” Vogel said. “I don’t know how he got there. I knew that he went.”
Whether LeBron was on the Mass Pike or above it mattered not.