LEBRON HAS LUKA (WITHOUT HOOKAH) AND NEW PLAYOFF LIFE — SO WHY IS HE MAD?
The Lakers are the talk of sports, yet James mopes about a career as The Face of the NBA — making us wonder if he’ll ever be happy with “weird energy” while Doncic settles in as a Los Angeles megastar
If we keep Luka away from hookah, which rhymes, someone will have to explain why LeBron James is so irritated. In his 22nd NBA season, he has a reasonable chance to jolt the Western Conference’s best teams in the playoffs. He likes his coach, JJ Redick, who is more than a former podcast partner. His owner with the Lakers, Jeanie Buss, is thrilled that the trade for Luka Doncic coincides with a Netflix sitcom made in her image.
“Everyone thinks, ‘Was this trade done to promote the show?’ Don’t think so,” she said.
What else could James be doing at 40 years and two months? His kid, Bronny, remains on the roster when recalled from South Bay, where he has been scoring 23 or more points in recent games. The Lakers, with Doncic and James as an all-time duo, have attracted prime sports attention on the level of Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler and might be bigger in Los Angeles than Shohei Ohtani. They’ve won five straight games, 15 of 18 total. All James must do is prevent Doncic from drinking beer, smoking hookah and looking like a swelled 265-pound brute, which doesn’t jibe with the ocean waters and never works in southern California without a fat suit.
Yet, LeBron is mad anyway.
Why have we made him The Face of the League?
Damn us.
He has been The Face, pretty much, since Michael Jordan left. Kobe Bryant won more championships and dazzled more people, but he isn’t with us as James plays on the same level in his 40s as Tom Brady did as a quarterback. His twilight isn’t upon him. He will rule the postseason and bring ratings that the NBA misses. What he’s doing this season blows away scientists and leaves questions about steroids.
Who knew the social-media monster with 213 million followers hates being The Face? Couldn’t he have said something in 2005, 2010, 2015 or 2020? Anthony Edwards, who has been described as the new Face and a new Jordan, said he doesn’t like the role. “No. Not really. That’s what they got Wemby for,” he said, referring to Victor Wembanyama. Later, Edwards said, “I’m capable of being that guy, but I don’t want to be that guy. Put it like that. I want to be the guy to just show up and hoop and just kill dudes and go home.” His comments were mentioned to James. Blow the questioner down.
“I feel Ant. I understand. I completely understand,” LeBron said. “There’s this weird energy when it comes to that.”
Weird energy? Explain. James referred to his former teammate, Channing Frye, who said on a podcast that “nostalgia is killing the NBA.” Meaning, some of us don’t enjoy a zillion three-pointers and miss Jordan and Kobe a little? Said Frye: “Every great player, whether that's Ant, Wemby, Bron, you know, Steph — you know who they compare them to? A mother— (who played) 40 years ago. Nobody celebrates these new people, so why the f— will anybody want to be the face of the league when you're going to get s— on, on every network for not being someone from 40 f—ing years ago? It’s ridiculous. It’s unfair.”
Forty years ago? LeBron should have ignored the comment. Instead, he embraced Frye as an expert on life matters.
“I mean, Channing Frye said it the other day. Why do you want to be the face of the league when all the people that cover our game and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis s— on everybody?" James said. “It’s just weird. It’s weird energy from people that — I don’t know, but Channing, he said it perfectly. Couldn’t say it no better.
“(Edwards) said he don’t want it. Obviously, I didn’t ask for it, but I knew there was a responsibility for me, not only to my family, my friends, my community and whoever that was gonna follow my journey throughout my career. I’ve always taken that seriously and understood from the beginning what being a professional was all about and being a role model is all about, so I tried to hold that with the utmost respect and honor.”
Finished? Nope. Turns out Stephen A. Smith complained about the rant, wondering what I wondered. Why doesn’t James appreciate mountains of praise for winning four titles, leading the NBA in all-time points and going down among the five top players ever? Rather, he’s sharing complaints with Ant, channeling Frye and firing back on Stephen A.
Why?
“Happy this convo has started. It ain’t about ‘face of the game’ and it ain't about one person or one show, it's about the culture of basketball, the most beautiful game in the world,” James wrote on X. “Our game has never been better. Incredible young stars from all over the world and some older ones. Steph Curry should be all we are talking about today. Let’s discuss how great OKC and the Cavs have been with two completely different styles and break down why and how they have. Of course, if players don’t perform, we need to discuss that too and break that down.
“This ain’t about me, either. At this point, I don't really care what’s said about me. It’s always something. This is about the impact the negativity is having on our beautiful game and our fans. I know I speak for a lot of players and more importantly, a helluva lot of great fans that truly love and celebrate this sport around the world.”
Finished? Not yet. After the Lakers beat the Clippers, James joined his old friend, Scott Van Pelt, for an ESPN interview Friday night. Naturally, they discussed The Face idiocy. Said LeBron: “What matters to me and my generation is that we play for the spirit of the game. We’re not out here cheating the game. We always give props to the generation that came before us. We’re just trying to carry on tradition, my generation. You know, we love what we do. It’s a responsibility for all of us to continue. This is the best and most beautiful game in the world. When you watch basketball, you’re listening to jazz music, R&B, heavy metal. We’re here for a reason. We don’t ever take it for granted.”
So by using fanboy Van Pelt, did James pile on Stephen A. at the same network? Not quite. Smith resumed fire over the weekend, saying of LeBron, “What’s messed up is the other b.s. he’s been spewing: that folks who cover the game are (bleeping) on the game. Critiquing the game, pointing out who’s doing and who’s not doing is NOT (bleeping) on the game. It’s covering the damn game. Greatness is not only measured, it’s compared to other greats. That’s the way it’s always been, some can take it. Some can’t!”
LeBron can’t.
Whatever James was trying to accomplish, all he did was incur the wrath of more critics. Be thankful. Be kind. The gods have given him Luka Doncic. What’s the problem? “Being around him, and watching him do this at 40 years old, is insane,” said Luka, who hasn’t been seen doing hookah in L.A.
When Doncic arrived Thursday night, for a game against the Dallas team that traded him, he refused to look at Nico Harrison during warmups. The general manager of the Mavericks was greeted by fans at Crypto.com Arena, who chanted, “Thank you … Nico!” It’s still impossible to think Harrison and his boss, Patrick Dumont, traded a 26-year-old megastar because he’s overweight and lazy. Dallas fans continue to have funerals. Lakers fans are loving life, enjoying free parking at Figueroa and West 11th streets — 140 spaces courtesy of Luka and his brand.
“It’s amazing. I think the atmosphere has been amazing,” Doncic said. “Even when I’m playing bad, every time I check in, they cheer for me. So this is an unbelievable feeling to be here. … It's all good. I'm happy. That's all that matters. I have a little daughter. My family's good, the people around me are good, so that's everything I want.”
He scored 31 points with five assists and three steals in a Friday night victory over the Clippers. “That’s the Luka I know. The killer,’’ Redick said.
If James would consider his roads and how Doncic wants to follow him, he wouldn’t gripe about silly stuff. Think Luka. “There’s a lot of emotion that goes into it when you give so much to a franchise,” James said of Doncic and the Mavs. “Throughout all those journeys, going to the Finals and all that stuff, he’s grown from being an 18- or 19-year-old kid to now being a man with a family. When you move on, or they move on from you, it’s very emotional, obviously. It’s very taxing. There’s probably a lot of things going on in his head that didn’t involve the game itself. That said, I thought he handled it tremendously.”
Said Doncic’s former teammate, Kyrie Irving: “It was easy to complement him while he’s having an MVP season. He carried us a lot (when) I was injured or hurt, and carried the burden and responsibility. So I think for me, there was respect there before we played together. But then playing with him, he’s just an innocent kid. And at the same time, he’s just ultra talented, and the whole world’s in front of him. You want to protect people like that too, because I feel like sometimes people come at him crazy, which is unnecessary.”
Perhaps the rant was LeBron’s way of commanding hype, one of his gifts. Maybe it was his way of swirling Stephen A. The larger plan is to keep an eye on Luka and make sure he’s not using the hookah waterpipe.
Again, LeBron is 40. He might start acting his age.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.