Latest / Bleacher Report / LeBron James Full Media Availability | 2025 NBA All-Star

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LeBron James Full Media Availability | 2025 NBA All-Star · Bleacher Report

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, we'll take first question on two two on
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: the fourth row, second seed in, Dave.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Mark.
• 0:09
  Speaker 3: If you don't mind, we're gonna switch it up real quick.
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  Speaker 3: Jeff Zilget USA Today Jeff on the left side Lebron.
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  Speaker 3: Last night after the dunk contest, Josh said he might
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: be willing to give it a shot. Janni's chimed in.
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  Speaker 3: Zach Levine also mentioned it, is there any part of
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  Speaker 3: you that regrets never doing it? And with a procession
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  Speaker 3: of people maybe saying they might do it, would it
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  Speaker 3: propel you to give it a chance? It next year's
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  Speaker 3: All Star.
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  Speaker 4: Gave uh No, there's no part of me to have
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  Speaker 4: regrets about not doing it. Obviously, I had a couple
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  Speaker 4: moments where I wanted to do it, and it's just
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  Speaker 4: never worked out that way going into the following season,
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  Speaker 4: either because the injuries or I just wasn't up. I
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  Speaker 4: wasn't up for it.
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  Speaker 2: But I don't know.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, if those guys do do it, I mean
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  Speaker 4: those are stars, superstars in our leage, and obviously we
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  Speaker 4: know the athleticism that the guys Jesus name, it'll be
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  Speaker 4: pretty cool.
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  Speaker 2: So you see next question Dave.
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  Speaker 5: Bayl Lebron David Bena in ESPN. Obviously your team, the Lakers,
• 1:12
  Speaker 5: made a huge deal a couple of weeks ago to
• 1:15
  Speaker 5: trade for Luka Doncic. I'm wondering if, at any way
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  Speaker 5: having a twenty five year old talent like that makes
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  Speaker 5: you think about the end of your career and if
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  Speaker 5: it could be extended further than your twenty three et cetera.
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  Speaker 4: No, I have not given it that type of thought,
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  Speaker 4: you know, just the excitement of being able to add
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  Speaker 4: a caliber player like that, a generational talent like that,
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  Speaker 4: to our franchise. It's something that's given me energy and
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: you know, and I'm looking forward to seeing what we
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: could do. I think it's been we only had what
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  Speaker 4: two games, two games so far, and I believe it.
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  Speaker 4: I think he's been on minutes restrictions since he came
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  Speaker 4: back from the CAP. He hadn't played since Christmas, I believe. So,
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  Speaker 4: you know, as we continue to you know, get into form,
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  Speaker 4: as he continues to get in form, I think we
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  Speaker 4: could be really good going down the stretch.
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  Speaker 2: But we see what.
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  Speaker 1: Happens over here, Dan on the right side.
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  Speaker 2: Here, Lebron, do you're right over here? Dan?
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  Speaker 6: Y Kelly Times curious as to your thoughts just about
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  Speaker 6: the overall sort of state of the league. You've been
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  Speaker 6: through a lot of stuff in your two decades in it.
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  Speaker 6: Where do you find the game to be right now?
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  Speaker 6: What ways could it be better? And what things are
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  Speaker 6: what ways? Maybe is it better now than it was
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  Speaker 6: when you started?
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  Speaker 4: Well, the fact that how many international channels and places
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  Speaker 4: and players that come into our league and viewers that
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  Speaker 4: we have all over the world. The game continues to expand,
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  Speaker 4: and that's a great thing for our game. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: we love our game. The game of basketball is beautiful.
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  Speaker 4: Has done so many things for us players and everybody
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  Speaker 4: in this room as well to be able.
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  Speaker 2: To cover it.
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  Speaker 4: So, you know, we always just trying to find out
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  Speaker 4: ways or figure out ways how we can continue to
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  Speaker 4: build the game, how we continue to make it better
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  Speaker 4: and better, you know. And it's better for when I
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  Speaker 4: entered the league in two thousand and three, and hopefully
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  Speaker 4: that it continues to be even better when I'm done
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  Speaker 4: playing as well.
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  Speaker 7: Next row back David Bron David Aldrich with The Athletic
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  Speaker 7: to kind of follow up on Dan's question, you had
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  Speaker 7: said about a couple months ago that you had thoughts
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  Speaker 7: about where the game was going and you talked about
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  Speaker 7: threes and things like that, and you said this wasn't
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  Speaker 7: the proper forum to discuss it. I wonder if today
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  Speaker 7: is a more proper forum to discuss it. And also ideally,
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  Speaker 7: if you could have the game look the way you
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  Speaker 7: think is the best way to play basketball, would it
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  Speaker 7: look like it's played now or would there be differences?
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  Speaker 4: Oh, I mean, the game can always continue to get
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  Speaker 4: better and better, but that's just for all of us
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  Speaker 4: to try to figure out what's best for our sport.
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  Speaker 4: We want to continue to engage in our viewership, continue
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  Speaker 4: to gauge in our and our consumer that loves our sport,
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  Speaker 4: and continue to understand that the guys that play the
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  Speaker 4: game and have their minds on how we continue to
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  Speaker 4: improve the game. To answer your question, no, this is
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  Speaker 4: definitely not the room. Too many faces. I have no
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  Speaker 4: idea who it is in here, so I went I
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  Speaker 4: open up to this room about that. But I'm definitely
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  Speaker 4: always trying to you know, have thoughts and you know,
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  Speaker 4: questions and hopefully solutions. That's the most important of how
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  Speaker 4: we continue to build our game. That's that's what's most important.
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  Speaker 8: Back left, Tim Reynolds on the left, Lebron Tim Reynolds AP.
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  Speaker 8: This is not the how many years left question? But
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  Speaker 8: now that you're forty year twenty two, all these accolades, obviously,
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  Speaker 8: how do you balance still being in the moment and
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  Speaker 8: trying to win championships and doing all the things that
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  Speaker 8: you're wired to do versus knowing that the finish line
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  Speaker 8: is obviously closer and appreciating what you've done and where
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  Speaker 8: you are.
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  Speaker 2: I think they merge right into one another.
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  Speaker 4: You know, I think I have a great appreciation for
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  Speaker 4: the moment because I understand that it's not going to
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  Speaker 4: be a lot a lot of moments going you know,
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  Speaker 4: into the future, you know, whenever that time is, whenever
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  Speaker 4: that time comes, So you have an opportunity to really
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  Speaker 4: really truly appreciate every single moment, you know, and take
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  Speaker 4: it all in, no matter you know, the goods, the bad,
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  Speaker 4: the you know, the adversity, whatever it comes with the
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  Speaker 4: day to day process of you know, being a professional
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  Speaker 4: and still trying to you know, play for championships, but
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  Speaker 4: more importantly just engaging and every single day and every
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  Speaker 4: single moment of being able to do what I love
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  Speaker 4: to do and I've been doing it for such a
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  Speaker 4: long time, been a professional for twenty two years. I've
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  Speaker 4: been playing a game at a level where you know,
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  Speaker 4: coaches and referees and you know, was evolved since I
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  Speaker 4: was eight, So you know, this is something I've always
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  Speaker 4: dived into and always loved the process, and you know,
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  Speaker 4: so you know, I think they just intertwined together right
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  Speaker 4: up front on your left.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, Lebron. You have a huge fund base in China,
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  Speaker 2: And do you have any implant to visit China.
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  Speaker 4: Or what's your message to show the fence there who
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  Speaker 4: adores you. Yeah, I've been to China a lot, you know,
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  Speaker 4: and I've always had a great deal of respect for
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  Speaker 4: the culture, for the way they love the game of basketball,
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  Speaker 4: and every time I've went and left, they've always welcomed
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  Speaker 4: me with open arms that comeback. So you know, that's
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  Speaker 4: always been a fun trip for me. And you know,
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  Speaker 4: my message to him, like it's always been as if
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  Speaker 4: you love the game, you know, play it as much
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  Speaker 4: as you can, enjoy it, play free, and you know,
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  Speaker 4: be around the great people that love the game as well.
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  Speaker 4: It makes the game that much more fun. So it's
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  Speaker 4: always been a treat either if I was going there
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  Speaker 4: for Nike or the NBA or for the Olympics. You know,
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  Speaker 4: always had a good time.
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  Speaker 5: Hey, Bron Melissa Rolin, Fox Sports, I.
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  Speaker 2: Hear your voice all kind of.
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  Speaker 5: Wemby said that he had a list of questions that
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  Speaker 5: he wanted to ask you.
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  Speaker 7: What advice would you give.
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  Speaker 5: Him and the other young guy the other young guys
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  Speaker 5: who are hoping to have a career that resembles yours.
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  Speaker 4: Well, I mean, obviously it always dictates on what the
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  Speaker 4: questions that he wants to ask me. But you know,
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  Speaker 4: as far as Weimbia, I mean, it seems like from
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  Speaker 4: the outside looking in that he has a great head
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  Speaker 4: on his shoulders. He seems like he loves the game
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  Speaker 4: that he puts. He takes care of his body, the
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  Speaker 4: process and everything, and you know, you're gonna get out
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  Speaker 4: the game what you put into it. And you know,
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: I've seen one quote that he says that like, nobody
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  Speaker 4: better not call him past nine o'clock at night because
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  Speaker 4: he's either reading or he's sleep you know. And I
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  Speaker 4: think that's super cool. I think that's super dope. That
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  Speaker 4: lets you know where his mind frame is, where he
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  Speaker 4: is at intellectually, and you know, I think he's he's
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  Speaker 4: been great for obviously for the for the franchise with
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  Speaker 4: the Spurs, but he's gonna be great for our league
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  Speaker 4: for so many, so many years to come.
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  Speaker 5: Left side, Dave, I just want to follow up on
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  Speaker 5: tonight's game. You got Stefan Castle and the Rise and
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  Speaker 5: Stars team going against the Ogs.
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  Speaker 2: U K. D.
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  Speaker 5: Steph kind of what's your approach to that new format
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  Speaker 5: and what.
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  Speaker 2: Will we see from you tonight? You won't see anything
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  Speaker 2: for me tonight.
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  Speaker 4: Unfortunately, I will not be in uniform tonight, still dealing
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: with ankle and foot discomfort, so I will not be
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  Speaker 4: playing tonight, unfortunately. You know I hate that, but I'm
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  Speaker 4: looking forward to to seeing the format. This is the
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  Speaker 4: first year for it. I know we got a lot
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  Speaker 4: of great call us the Ogs. That's hilarious. We got
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  Speaker 4: a few guys with gray hairs so that it makes sense,
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  Speaker 4: but uh, you know, that should be fun. I saw
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  Speaker 4: the quote the other day DK with somebody who's gonna
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  Speaker 4: play against me, So I guess I'll see him at
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  Speaker 4: practice and hopefully I'll be in practice.
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  Speaker 2: We can go at it.
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  Speaker 1: Then over here, Long on the right.
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  Speaker 9: So Lebron Long Marie at the Athletic back in two
• 8:21
  Speaker 9: thousand and seven, you host a Saturday Night Live. You'
• 8:25
  Speaker 9: the last active NBA player to host that show, so
• 8:27
  Speaker 9: we got all Star. But they're also celebrating the fiftieth
• 8:30
  Speaker 9: university season. What was it like, what's it like to
• 8:32
  Speaker 9: just be a part of that show's legacy and what
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  Speaker 9: NBA players should host that show next.
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  Speaker 4: To be a part of Saturday Night Live legacy is
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  Speaker 4: something that, I mean, the dream come true. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: it's been on obviously my entire life. And seeing so
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: many great actors, you know, Gracetelle's those skits you know,
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  Speaker 4: every single Saturday, and so many entertainers that come there
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  Speaker 4: and do their do their bits as well. It was
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: it was, It was fun. It was super fun and
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: hopefully I get the opportunit to do it again. I will
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: love to do it again. I was so young, I
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: said two thousand and six, two thousand and seven, I
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: was twenty one, twenty two maybe, so it was super fun.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean, Kevin love Is Is.
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  Speaker 4: Is hilarious by the way, and he's a great friend
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  Speaker 4: of mine and I could definitely see him doing Saturday
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  Speaker 4: Night Live for sure. He's one of my great friends
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  Speaker 4: and he's hilarious. So but you know, it was definitely
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: it was a treat and something that I can always
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: look back and say, I like, I was on the
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: show that Will Ferrell has been on, and so many great,
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: so many great guys. I mean, Bill Hater is a
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  Speaker 4: good friend of mine. So you know, it was pretty cool.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: On the left side.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: First, Lebron Cameron tips by USA Today SMG. You know,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Lebron of the Lakers drafting Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown of
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: the Celtics is kind of sacrilegious to NBA purists.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: I'm eronnie.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Can you talk about the state of the Lakers Celtics
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: rivalry and rivalries in the NBA more broadly.
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  Speaker 4: Well, I mean, I mean when it comes to rivalries,
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  Speaker 4: if it's that deep rooted, then they always live on.
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: You know, you look at Celtics and Lakers, you look
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: at Ohio State, Michigan, you look at Yankees, Red Sox.
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: You just it's just certain, you know, matchups that no
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: matter who's out on the floor who or who's on
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  Speaker 4: the gridiron or you know, it's just it is what
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: it is because of the tenure in the legacy of it.
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: So and that's and that's what stands with the with
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: the Lakers and the Celtics for for how many years?
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: I mean, obviously we've been competing against that franchise and whatever,
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: and both have had so much success. It's it will
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  Speaker 4: always it would always stand the test of time, you know,
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  Speaker 4: and forever.
• 10:37
  Speaker 10: Joe here in the second row on the right, Joe Varden,
• 10:39
  Speaker 10: the Athletic. You're not playing tonight. That's going to be
• 10:42
  Speaker 10: a record that ends, that will probably never come down.
• 10:45
  Speaker 10: Consecutive All Stars starts at twenty. But my question was,
• 10:50
  Speaker 10: you know, when you were thirty, we were talking about,
• 10:52
  Speaker 10: well who is coming behind you? That discussion may have
• 10:56
  Speaker 10: been a little premature. But now that you're forty and
• 10:59
  Speaker 10: you're talking about, you know, the end at some point,
• 11:02
  Speaker 10: do you have a player in mind who will be
• 11:03
  Speaker 10: the best player in the league in five years.
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  Speaker 2: I don't to answer that question. I do not.
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  Speaker 4: There are too many great young players right now to
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: just say, well, this one guy will be the best
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: player in the league. I mean, our our league is
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: filled with so many talented players, so many guys that
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: can transcend the game on the floor and off the floor.
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  Speaker 2: And I think it's in a really good place.
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  Speaker 4: So it was definitely premature at thirty to ask me
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: that question. But uh, you know, our game is in
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: a really good place, Joe.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: We last two questions over here on the left side,
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  Speaker 1: second row and then Dan here on the right.
• 11:38
  Speaker 11: What's good bron Bared, Uh, simply Brits Sports. We go
• 11:42
  Speaker 11: around the world reviewing different basketball courts, right and we
• 11:44
  Speaker 11: started in the UK. We went to the I Promise School,
• 11:47
  Speaker 11: traveled all the way that review that I want to
• 11:50
  Speaker 11: know from you one basketball court that even means the
• 11:53
  Speaker 11: most you will you played up growing up that we
• 11:54
  Speaker 11: need to go check out and review.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Wow, that's a great question.
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: I mean, I've played on so many indoor and outdoor
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: courts growing up in Akron, Ohio that they all have
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: a like a special meaning to me. You know, I
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: played at Elizabeth Park Projects when I was growing up.
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: You know I'll play I was a summer lake recreation center.
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: I played at the y m c A downtown. I
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: played at the Urban League. I played at outdoor courts
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: like Perkins Pool, Hawkins, Hawkins Court ed Davis as well
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: in my hometown, like me and my me and my
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: best friends who we're still best friends to today. We
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: went all over the city either on our bikes or
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: we walked around and we would go look for a
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: game and see who guys are playing ball, either indoor outdoor,
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: and we wanted to get a run in no matter what.
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: So it's a lot of courts and in our city
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: that I don't even I don't know if they're still
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: like actively playing ball. I know a lot of kids
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: don't really be outside as much as we did when
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: we were younger. But it's a lot of courts that
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: hold a lot of meaning to me because it's like
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: it started the whole love of the game for me,
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: just being able to go out and play just for
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: the love of the game and just the freedom that
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: we have.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: Appreciate you Dan. Last question here on the right side.
• 13:09
  Speaker 6: Lebron, just to follow up a little bit on the
• 13:11
  Speaker 6: foot of the ankle. You played on Wednesday in Utah.
• 13:15
  Speaker 6: There's a game schedule this Wednesday because of the fires
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: and rescheduling. Do you anticipate being available at the start
• 13:22
  Speaker 6: of this week? And it was just just kind of
• 13:25
  Speaker 6: more a maintenance type of wearing tear situation.
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's a little bit of both, you know.
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: I was hoping that it would feel a lot better
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: this morning, you know, but it's it's not as where
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: I wanted to be, and you know what, thirty games
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: left and us trying to make a playoff push in
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: the wild wild West. I felt like it's very important
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: for me to kind of take care of myself and understand,
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: you know, what what's coming on.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: So I want to say it's maintenance.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: Well it is maintenance, but at the same time, it's like,
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: you know, I have to look out for myself when
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: it comes to this, to this injury that I've been
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: dealing with for years, you know. And and so I
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: hope to be available on Wednesday. You know, we have
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: to have a makeup game. So I am headed back
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: to LA tonight. There will be no vacation for me.
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: Uh So I head back to LA tonight and you know,
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: back to rehab tomorrow and getting ready for practice on Tuesday,
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: and hopefully I can play against Charlotte on Wednesday and
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: hopefully play against you know, Portland on Thursday. So it's
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: a big stretch for us than I appreciate it.