Lakers Notes: LeBron, Russell, Davis, Wood, Redick

LeBron James is feeling optimistic about the Lakers while entering his record-tying 22nd year in the NBA, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin writes.

“I feel damn good,” James said Monday. “I had a great summer. … I feel really good physically. Mentally, I feel really good. Really sharp. Very fresh. Looking forward to getting to work tomorrow. I have not thought about what the future holds. Kind of just living in the moment. Especially with Bronny (James) being here, too. I don’t want to take this moment for granted.”

James expressed gratitude for the chance to play for Team USA this summer and enjoyed the fact that several games went down to the wire, which he likened to playoff Game Sevens. Even though it’s unclear for exactly how much longer James will play, he showed no signs on Monday of wanting to slow down.

“It felt great to play meaningful basketball,” James said. “To go out there at my age, the miles that I have, and to be able to play at the level I played at, it gave me even more of a sense of, ‘OK, I do have a lot in the tank. A lot.’ And I can help a big part of a team win the ultimate and whatever — if it’s gold, or if it’s a Larry O’Brien Trophy, or whatever the case may be, I can still get it done.”

We have more from the Lakers:

• D’Angelo Russell had an up-and-down season in 2023/24. His scoring average was his best in a Lakers uniform and he made a career-high 41.5% of his three-point attempts (7.2 per game). However, his averages and efficiency plummeted in the playoffs and McMenamin writes that he butted heads with former head coach Darvin Ham at times. Russell addressed his season on Monday. “I think for me, honestly, I really want to apologize in the sense of showing a lack of professionalism at times,” Russell said. “Showing a lack of team-first perception at times. So for me, just keeping that maturity and that professionalism throughout the year no matter the ups and downs. Holding myself more accountable on the defensive end.“
• Head coach J.J. Redick is encouraging Anthony Davis to shoot more threes this season, Khobi Price of the Orange County Register writes. Davis averaged a career-high 3.5 attempts per game in his first season with the Lakers in 2019/20, but that average has declined in each subsequent season. “Even [in] the Olympics when I [made] a three, he’ll text me ‘That’s what I wanna see,’ things like that,” Davis said. “So for him, it’s definitely gonna be just shooting more threes.”
• Lakers center Christian Wood, who is recovering from knee surgery, thinks he has about two weeks left of rehab from injury and then two weeks of ramp-up before being able to play, McMenamin reports (Twitter link). Wood played in 50 games last season for L.A., averaging 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds.
• The Lakers almost traded with New Orleans for Redick early on in LeBron’s L.A. tenure, McMenamin writes in a separate story. James has long admired Redick, who later became his podcast co-host. When the Lakers job opened up, James and Redick got on the same page quickly before the latter was hired. “I wanted the Lakers, as a player and as a fan of the franchise, to be able to hire the coach that should be there,” James said. “Not only as I’m finishing my career, but long after I’m gone because there’s been so many guys in that seat over the last few years. And to be able to find someone that could be stable in that position is very key for any franchise. And for me to be a part of a legacy franchise, I feel like that was important.“