James declines to clarify post that showed hourglass emoji
In his first media availability with reporters since cryptically posting an hourglass emoji on X (formerly known as Twitter) after the Lakers' 138-122 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, Lakers star LeBron James declined to clarify the meaning behind the post.
“No,” James responded when asked about the post.
After significant speculation on social media following a report that the Lakers were looking to trade James ahead of Thursday's deadline, his agent, Rich Paul, told ESPN's Brian Windhorst that James “won't be traded, and we aren't asking to be.”
James has a $51.4 million player option with the Lakers for the 2024-25 season. When asked if he's thought about his playeroption decision, James responded “no”.
His comments came ahead of the Lakers' Saturday evening matchup against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the fifth game of a six-game trip that concludes on Monday against the Charlotte Hornets.
When asked whether James being in Year 21 of his NBA career heightens the sense of urgency to figure things out, coach Darvin Ham responded: “It's already built-in urgency just being a Laker” while also understanding where James is coming from.
“The stage of his career where he's at, I'd have put two or three out saying hourglasses or whatever,” Ham said pregame. “I get it, I totally get it. So it's what we all signed up for. It doesn't give me pause or make me apprehensive about anything. It just makes me want to coach my ass off even harder, which I'm already going to do. And just try to put it together and navigate these injuries and what have you. And figure it out and hopefully come out on the right side of things like we did last year, but this time take it a step further, a few steps further.”
James, who was listed as questionable because of left ankle peroneal tendinopathy after he and Anthony Davis (bilateral Achilles tendinopathy and left hip spasm) missed Thursday's upset win over the leagueleading Boston Celtics, was available against the Knicks. Davis was also available.
“Physically? I mean, I've been better,” James said. “But I've been a lot worse. I'm very proud of our efforts
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in Boston. Those guys stepped up and played exceptional basketball. Beautiful to see. Beautiful to watch.”
The Lakers entered Saturday 2-2 on the trip and 25-25 on the season for No. 9 in the Western Conference.
When asked about his confidence level that this team can win enough to get to where it needs to be, James pointed to the team's injuries, including forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who's reportedly expected to miss several weeks with a right foot injury.
“We took a big hit with Vando last game,” James said. “Our team has always been constructed around how healthy we can be and how much chemistry we can put on the floor. That's a big-time hit, big-time blow for us. But guys have to pick it up in his absence. If we can play some good basketball, string a couple (of) wins together, and not be so Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on any given night, then we'll be OK.”
During last season's AllStar Weekend, with the Lakers 27-32, James referred to the team's final 23 games as “23 of the most important games of my career for a regular season.”
James said he hadn't thought about this season in those terms, at least not yet.
“Just taking every day and every game and seeing ways we can get better,” he said. “How we continue to be the team that we want to be going down the stretch. So I haven't really thought about it.”
Saturday was James' 32nd NBA game in Madison Square Garden, according to ESPN. Even after all those matchups, James said playing at Madison Square Garden still means something to him.
“It's the Mecca of basketball,” James said. “It's one of the most prestigious arenas to play in in the history of sports. So for me to be able to grace that floor throughout my career has always been a treat.
“If I get an opportunity to be in the lineup and play here, especially at the latter stage of my career, definitely don't take it for granted.” on Jan. 26 that Reddish would be reevaluated in approximately two weeks.
“We get these daily updates and everything is going with him according to plan,” Ham added. “Something hopefully will be encouraging [Sunday]. But until then, we don't want to speculate. We're just trying to stick to the plan to get him back as soon as possible.”
Although Ham didn't have an official update on Vanderbilt, saying that he's “going through the process of evaluation” and that the team should know more “in the next day or so” about the right foot injury he suffered against the Celtics, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski provided an update on ABC NBA Countdown.
“Jarred Vanderbilt has suffered, what was described to me, as a significant right foot injury,” Wojnarowski said. “There's concern that he could be lost for the reason of the season. They're consulting with specialists this weekend, going through that foot injury on Vanderbilt. But at the minimum, I'm told he's out for several weeks and very well could be out for the rest of the season.”