LeBron James got a hero’s welcome at the Drew League on Saturday, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN, but Lakers fans will be more interested in what he said than what he did on the court.
“I’m 100 percent healthy,” James told ESPN in an interview during his game.
It was James’ first time playing in public since the start of April. He missed 26 games this season, including seven of the Lakers’ last eight regular season contests with a sprained left ankle, as the team dropped into 11th place in the West and failed to qualify for the play-in tournament.
James showed no lingering effects from the ankle injury as he thrilled an overflow crowd at the Drew League, a Los Angeles tradition in pro-am basketball for nearly 50 years. He had 42 points, 16 rebounds, four steals and three assists as his team rallied to win a close game. James played alongside another NBA star, DeMar DeRozan, who posted 30 points and 14 rebounds.
Kyrie Irving was also rumored as a possible Drew League participant, but he spent the day at a girls basketball skills camp run by Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy.
James’ presence caused fans to start lining up around 7:00 am Pacific Time, even though his game didn’t start until 1:45 pm, according to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. The standing-room-only crowd reacted to everything he did, gasping when he missed his first shot and cheering loudly when he followed that by sinking a three-pointer.
“The day was crazy. A guy everybody wanted to come watch, it was already packed early in the morning,” said former NBA player Casper Ware Jr. “I [was] trying to find a way to get people in, my close friends and all this and a lot of them couldn’t even get in. He just brought that type of atmosphere where there’s no room on the baseline to stand or anywhere. It’s just the energy he brings everywhere he goes.”
King of Kings
Watching his career has been the best part of my lifelong experience of being a basketball fan. His unbelievable talent plus the way he’s wrested so much power away from the owners/management & given it to the players/workers. He’s basically Curt Flood + Hank Aaron + Tupac. The way he put his boys on might even be the most impressive thing he’s done. And I’ve learned to love the fact that he gets so much hate from the other side. That’s really just more evidence of his greatness
Stop. Kyrie is a baby who wants his own way.
He has tried to destroy at least 2 franchises and will do the same the next place he goes.
He is the dumbest “smart person” in the US and does not understand the issues he claims to be an activist.
His greatness? What is that again? He ruined Duke when they were a #1 seed. He needed Lebron to bail his ass out of Cleveland. He did nothing and QUIT on the Celtics. And now he is abandoning the team he claimed was his perfect fit.
All bc people did not make Kyrie feel special.
Kyrie is a cancer and will never win anything ever again.
But you keep worshiping him like a god. Thats healthy
they were talking about lebron….
@chief
hilarious!! you can sense he’s been holding that in for a while.
What power? He cannot even get traded bc he is such a hack.
Steph Curry changed the entire league and the way all players and teams played. Lebron never did that. Centers weren’t shooting 3’s before Steph. Steph will win more rings then Bron, and is the real #1.
“Hank Aaron and Tupac” – lol grow up. Lebron drove to high school in a hummer, he’s been a spoiled, wealthy athlete since he was like 15 years old. Disgraceful examples. You bron stans truly have zero shame…
You are right he did have a lot to do with the /checks notes …thing the league is currently mad about, the KD situation…that’s all Bron, baby! Congrats to him, a true Curt Flood protege!! lmao
@AsfaninUK …….. Nowitzki, Bosh, Sheed, Okur, Sam Perkins, Dale Ellis, Schrempf, Sabonis the Elder and a whole lot more bigs were regularly shooting threes.
Heck Bill Laimbeer was a designated stretch center way back in the 80’s, winning 2 rings with the PISTONS hitting crucial 3’s in Finals games.
Know your history kid. You sound like you’re twelve.
@A’sStan
Dude if you’re over the age of 12 you should be ashamed of your homerism. Curry is the best shooter in the world and the best thing that ender happen to him is to have the ex-player with the highest career 3pt % as a coach in Kerr (45%). He gave Curry the greenlight to fire away 10 attempts a game. Under Mark Jackson he was still letting it fly (5 to 7 pg). But be clear, NBA coaches put limits to the # of 3pt shots a player could take. It certainly wasn’t because they COULDN’T shoot them. FYI…. Curry’s career 3pt % is .4276%. Steve Nash? .4278% on 3,939 attempts. Now I still consider Curry the best because of the volume (7,290) but it show how different the mindset was for 3pt shooting in the previous decades until the “Curry era”. Btw Nash was not only an elite 3pt shooter and back to back MVP winner like Curry but he also, to this date, has racked up 5,000 more assists than Curry. In fact, Draymond has racked up more assists than Curry the last 7 years. He’s led the GSW in assists pg in 6 out of the last 7 years.
So give Curry credit for being the best shooter ever but he’s still not better than LBJ and if you want to make it about rings won then he’s still not ahead of Magic, perhaps the greatest PG ever, Kareem (6 titles, 6 MVPs and all-time scoring leader) or even LBJ (4 time champ one of them against the 73 win GSW), soon to be all-time point leader and the likely to be the ONLY player to be top 5 in both points and assists. Add 6 all-defensive team and 18 consecutive years of averaging at least 25 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds per. Only 3 guys have averaged 25/6/6 for their career. Oscar (10x) and Luka (3×). LBJ (18 out of 19 years). The only year he came short was his rookie season (21/5.5/5.9). Curry…. amazing 3pt because of accuracy (% made), volume (150 more than Allen at #2) and the ridiculous range he has. Also has great handles, but certainly not the best) and for how well he works off the ball). But nowhere near #1 and honestly, maybe nut even top 10 yet.
Curry is Warriors’ all time assists leader. Green isn’t.
And Curry averages more assists than him.
Steve Nash? The guy who averaged 14 ppg and no titles? Lol.
And you just compared a 2 6’9 players and a 7 footer to a 6’2 guard. Curry more than holds his own with the best of them.
Curry is easily in the top 10 based on how he has influenced the game. His accolades speak for themselves. I don’t need to list them like a desperate Bron fanatic.
Kiddie
@A’s
Refresh my memory of when LBJ ever demanded a trade….. I’ll wait.
Found Lebron’s burner account
You live a pretty sad life my friend. Keep worshiping a billionaire
Sure Bron! Let’s see if you can through a whole season of 82 games first.
If the team needs him for all 82 the team isn’t good enough in the first place
There’s zero possible ways for the Lakers to clear the Warriors in terms of talent even if Lebron averaged 40 a game. They aren’t a first place team no matter how much he plays. They’re a 35 win team until proven otherwise.
LAKERS fans should prefer that it was AD who declared being 100% healthy.
Looming forward to Malcolm Brogdon’s annual pronouncement that he is 100% healthy.
Pin this thread for when the Lakers win 35 games this year.
I definitely bookmarked this article for when his fanboys make excuses for him later this year.
@A’s
I hate but respect the GSW for what they’ve done but you dude show so much hate. Let’s keep it a buck. The GSW fanbase should be the last team to make fun of a players fragility.
LBJ last 5 years ages 33 to 37 = 305 games or 61 games in last 5 years. 27/8/8
Curry ages 29 to 33 = 50 games per season.
Klay ages 27 to 31=183 games or 38 games over last 5 years including 2 whole seasons missed.
I would never poke fun at a players health and you GSW fans need to say less. You guys won your 1st chip without KD since 2014-15 and you act like you run things. #ShowMeTheLie
I’m sure he’ll break a fingernail between now and season start.
Has LeBum declared himself Goat of the Drew League?
Nobody cares LeBron. You’re still no MJ or Dr. J.
LeBron is 100% healthy. This will likely last for a full week into regular season play.
Meanwhile, it’s the middle of the off-season so it’s irrelevant.
Come November or December or whenever he tweaks an ankle or works his abs too hard on the Peloton machine, this will be referenced as his reason for being injured.
‘The off-season is too short/nonexistent so he didn’t get enough rest and recover time, and it caught up with him…’
And if HE doesn’t use this as an excuse, the media and his fanboys will.
What’s the Drew League ??????
without “Uncle Drew” ……. I mean really.
Like the Nets franchise, I assume
link to youtu.be
link to en.wikipedia.org
It even has a wiki page.
So much hate. Do some yoga and mediation people.
Yo I hated MJ when he was with the Bulls but that’s natural because I’m a Knicks fan. You guys are clowning LBJ because of his recent health. I mean the guy is 37 but it’s not like the injuries are career or season ending. It’s plays like coming down in someone’s foot, or twisting an ankle. He’s not fragile. But 19 season’s in the games and, on average, he’s played 72 games a season. And in his 19th season he averaged 30/8/6. Not to mention playing an extra 20-23 games a year when he went to the finals 10 years or so in a row. It’s amazing how well he’s playing considering that Mello is the only other player in his draft class still playing. Not even a LBJ fanboy but the last joke I’d be talking about is his durability missing 20 games or not.
James was sick at the end of last year #kingofkings
Good. No excuses