EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — For a team that needed a second-half surge just to make the play-in tournament and then was summarily bounced out of the first round, leading to an offseason coaching change, there sure was an air of optimism in the building for the Los Angeles Lakers’ annual media day Monday.
Nobody embodied it more than the 39-year-old LeBron James as he embarks on his 22nd season, tying Hall of Fame-inductee Vince Carter for the most in NBA history.
“I feel damn good,” James said during his news conference. “I had a great summer.”
James had reason to smile when both looking back at winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics with Team USA and being named tournament MVP and when looking forward to becoming the first father to team up with his son in the league.
LeBron and his 19-year-old son, Bronny, were two of the first Lakers players to take the court, happily posing for photographs together in their gold Lakers uniforms.
“So 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 being here, too. I don’t want to take this moment for granted.”
Added Bronny: “This is a crazy feeling. … Just looking over at my dad taking pictures, it was like, ‘What’s going on right now?’ [That was] literally my thoughts. Just kind of take it all in. Extremely grateful for the opportunity.”
James, who will turn 40 in December, said he was grateful for the tense moments when USA Basketball had to sweat out wins against Serbia in the semifinal and France in the Olympic final — an experience he likened to “two Game 7s back-to-back” – for renewing his spirit for the sport.
“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.”
Not that the optimism was so overwhelming that the team was blind to the situation it is in.
As active as the voluntary offseason workout sessions have been, JJ Redick is taking over as coach with zero coaching experience. Jarred Vanderbilt (right and left foot procedures), L.A.’s best perimeter defender, and Christian Wood (left knee scope), the lone stretch 5 on the roster, will both be sidelined for at least several more weeks and will have to watch when practices opens up Tuesday.
Anthony Davis, who won gold with James and also got a tattoo of the Olympic rings on his left arm like James, admitted that the Lakers will have stiff competition.
“The West is tough,” Davis said. “The West has always been tough, you know, 1-15. So for us, we can’t get too excited for a win, too low for a loss. We have to come in and stay even-keeled. That continuity helps, building off last year with the team that we had. But I think if we’re healthy and we’re able to stay healthy throughout the entire season, we can be a top team in the West. … If we get hit by the injury bug again, it’s going to be tough.”
Things got so tough for point guard D’Angelo Russell at times last season — butting heads with former coach Darvin Ham, losing his starting spot at one point and then playing well enough to earn it back only to struggle in the playoffs — that he acknowledged his uncertain future with the team by greeting reporters by saying “surprise, surprise” as he took the podium.
“I think for me, honestly, I really want to apologize in the sense of showing a lack of professionalism at times,” Russell, who has been in constant communication with Redick to get that relationship off on the right foot, 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.”
Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said last week he would need 30 games or so to evaluate his team to see what adjustments need to be made.
In the meantime, the James family will continue to get adjusted to sharing the workplace together.
While Bronny said he has trained himself to block out the noise from “people that don’t think I should be here,” he has already gotten comfortable talking trash to his dad.
He told ESPN that the bucket that LeBron scored on him on a crossmatch last week while playing pick-up basketball at the Lakers facility shouldn’t have counted because he believes his dad stepped out of bounds before the score.
“The refs that were reffing that game … he’s in year whatever it is, so he’s going to get that call,” Bronny told ESPN.
And as for LeBron saying on a recent episode of Uninterrupted’s “The Shop,” that Bronny isn’t allowed to call him dad in the workplace?
“Whatever comes out of my mouth when I’m trying to speak to him is what he’s going to accept,” Bronny said.
No matter the name prompt, LeBron just sounded content to be around his kid.
“Just pure joy, to be honest, to be able to come to work every day, put in the work, hard work with your son every day, and be able to see him continue to grow,” he said. “It gives you a lot of life.”