Latest / Bleacher Report / LeBron James Talks Being Eliminated, 1st Season w_ Luka Doncic, & His Future _ 2025 NBA Playoffs

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LeBron James Talks Being Eliminated, 1st Season w_ Luka Doncic, & His Future _ 2025 NBA Playoffs · Bleacher Report

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Lebron.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: You could, uh, Lebron, you been through it all in
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: the NBA. Just wonder how you go into an off
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: season after year twenty two, you know, when you probably
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: had high hopes setting into the postseason that that end
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: abruptly like this.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know. I mean obviously for me,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: since my first NBA Finals appearance, I think in two
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: thousand and seven, the moment I got an opportunity to
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: be a part of that and and taste that feeling
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: from there on, every season that I did not make
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: it to the finals or did not win a championship
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: has been a disappointment. So it'd be the same for me,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: you know, it'd be the same off season of disappointment
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: and unfulfillment. You know, have an opportunity, you know, to
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: play longer, give yourself, an opportunity to play for the
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Larry O'Brian trophy. So nothing changes for me.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: And the fact that you're gonna enter into an off
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: season on a roster that that has look at Datich
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: that secured the number three season the West in a
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: in a really tough West this year.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: What type of.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: Thoughts does that give you.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: About your end game?
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: And you know, how many more years will we see
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: you play?
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't have the answer to that. Something.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: I'll sit down with my family, my wife and and
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: uh my support group and kind of just talk through
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: it and see what happens, and then they just have
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: a conversation with myself on how long I wanna continue
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: to play. I don't know the answer to that right now,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: to be honest. So let me.
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: See Lebron kind of too along those lines, did Y?
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: You know there's belief in and teams always believe to
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: a degree, Y, this team had like that real It's
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: seemed like that real genuine belief did Did that energize
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: you and waste and challenge you mentally and physically in
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: ways that you could see wanting to do more of
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: this having that opportunity.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Mm? No, you know, I I walk into the practice
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: facility and walk into this arena with high energy all
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: the time, you know, and uh, and I just try
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: to spill that to my teammates. I try to spill
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: the belief into my teammates play as hard as I
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: can do whatever I can out on the floor. H
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: will have the opportunity to do it. But you know,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: I don't think. I think the only thing is I
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: it's up to me or if I if I wanna,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: you know, continue to play, or how long I wanna
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: continue to play. It's ultimately up to me. So it
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: has nothing to do about anybody else.
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: Then, You've taken on so many differ challenges in your career.
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: Being paired mid season with another ball dominant superstar, it
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: was one that you you'd never had before. How did
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: that go? What were the challenges with that? In what
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: areas do you think that pairing could be better in
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: the future with more time.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, anytime you make an acquisition or or or a
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: big acquisition in the middle of the season, it's always
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: gonna be challenging, you know. And and not only for me,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: but for Ar and for the rest of the group.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: On on how we were, how we were playing. I mean,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: we went from you know, the ball, wanting to touch
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: the ball in Eighty's hands, you know, off either off
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: pick and rolls or off off post ups or off
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: elbow catches, you know. But it started with myself in
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: ar kind of handling and uh the ball, uh the
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: ball handling, and then making sure we got eighty the ball,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: you know, and the whole obviously dynamic change, you know,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: when we act made the acquisition of Luca to you know,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: how we can we change our approach to to the
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: best fit his game and how can we center our
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: game around his you know, and you know, I think
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: it's always challenging when you you make a like I said,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: a big acquisition like that. There were times where we
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: you know, obviously didn't look so well, you know, a
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: couple of games early on, but I think we kind
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: of figured it out, you know, kind of later in
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: the season and more and more games we had. I
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: still don't think we had enough time to measure but
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: for for the time that we had, I thought we
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: ended the regular season very well to you know, be
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: top three in the West, and obviously you know how
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: tough the West he is. I thought that was a
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: good test for us, and you know, we we have
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: some challenges, but I think, you know, ultimately having a
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: guy like that is very dynamic for any franchise.
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: Uh, Lebron, How did I think it was the final
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: twelve games you guys played when you had your full
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: unit after you return, How did the end of regular
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: season but also this year form from a team my
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: perspective the airs of improvement for next Uh, I don't know.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously we don't even man, Listen, it's a
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: business too, so you don't know what the roster look
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: like next year besides the guys that's locked into contracts,
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: So we don't. I mean, shit, I got a lot
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: to think about myself, so I don't. I don't know
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: what the roster will look like. I don't know what
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: I'm you know where I stand right now. But I
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: think whatever happens, I think JJ gonna continue to grow.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: I thought he had a hell of a rookie campaign
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: for a rookie coach, you know. And it's a lot
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: different being a rookie coach. It's already hard being a
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: rookie coach in the NBA, and it's a hell of
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: a lot harder being a rookie head coach coaching the Lakers.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: It's a whole another ball game. And I thought he
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: handled it extremely well. I thought he he just learned
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: every single day, he held us accountable, he he pushed us.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: I thought JJ and his coaching staff were great throughout
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: the whole season, you know, and that that was pretty cool.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: So that's one thing for short that you guys know
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: for short that would be and and here is a
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: great you know, a great coach up and coming coach
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: that would be great for many, many years.
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: Last with Yoba and.
• 6:17
  Speaker 6: Lebronum, basically from mid January on right when Ady got injured,
• 6:23
  Speaker 6: you guys started playing a lot of centerless basketball and
• 6:26
  Speaker 6: not required a lot from you and Doe and Ruie
• 6:28
  Speaker 6: and then Vando once he got back from a physical
• 6:32
  Speaker 6: like taxing standpoint. How how tough was that for the
• 6:37
  Speaker 6: last three and a half months to play that style?
• 6:39
  Speaker 6: And do you feel like that caught up at all
• 6:41
  Speaker 6: in this series?
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Uh? No comment. I'll never say that because, uh my guy,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Ady said what he needed and uh then he was
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: gone the following week, So I got no comment. I
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: put that uniform all every night. I gave everything I
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: had and that's that's all. That's all that matters. At Hey,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: bron with everything that you've accomplished, where does playing alongside
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: your son rink, especially considering everything that he's overcome. Uh?
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Number one, for sure, that's easy, It's not even close.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: I mean to be able to play the game that
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: I love and to be able to be along with
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: my son, this whole year has been one of the
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: most gratifying, satisfying journeys I've ever been on, just to
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: see his growth from the moment he was drafted when
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: we were all in New York at the draft party,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: to seeing him in Summer League, you know, struggle on
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: early on in Summer League and pick it up towards
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: the end. To get on the floor with him in
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: preseason for the first time, I believe, and palm springs,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: I believe, to getting on the court versus this Minnesota
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: team game one, and just to see what he was
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: able to do every single day by just uh, you know,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: just channeling, channeling in his mind and his work, just
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: putting into work and just seeing how much he's he
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: grew from Like I said, the moment for me was
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: drafted to you know, doing what he was doing in
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: the g getting opportunities with us. Super proud of, like,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: you know, the shortcomings that he had when we played
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: in Philly. I thought that built so much character and
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: and it showed when we set out a lot of
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: guys at that home game when we played Milwaukee, you know,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: and I just thought he has a right future because
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: not only can he play the game, of basketball. He's
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: just a just a great kid, you know. And you
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: can ask anybody, any one of his teammates, any one
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: of the coaches, is just a joy to be around.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: And I have to say that I have a lot
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: to do with that. Appreciate it.