LeBron James on Wednesday said that the abrupt shutdown of the NBA season due to the COVID-19 pandemic has left the Los Angeles Lakers feeling like they still have something to prove.
The Lakers were in the midst of a revival season, having made the playoffs for the first time in seven years, when the league suspended the 2019-2020 season on March 11 after Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.
At the time of the postponement, the Lakers were in first place in the Western Conference and had the second-best record in the league behind Milwaukee.
Photo: AP
If the season does not resume, there would be a void, James said.
“Closure? No. But to be proud of what we were able to accomplish to this point, I’ll be able to look back and say we did something special in that small period of time,” James said during a conference call with reporters. “Just the ups and downs, not only on the floor, but off the floor — everything that we’ve had to endure as Laker faithful.”
James said that he is having trouble coming to grips with the scale of the pandemic.
“How do you assess what’s going on over the last three weeks or however long this pandemic has been going on? It’s unnatural,” James said. “It’s something that’s never happened before. You just kind of take all the information you have on a day-to-day basis.”
He has been spending his self-isolating time practicing basketball with his son Bronny, and talking on the telephone with teammates and Lakers coach Frank Vogel.
James wants to return to basketball, but said that it would be up to the experts to decide when.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver this week said that he does not expect a decision on whether they can salvage the season until at least next month.
“Once they allow us to resume some type of activity, I would love to get things back going,” James said. “If it’s Las Vegas or somewhere else that can hold us and keep us in the best possible chance to be safe — not only on the floor, but off the floor as well. Those conversations will be had.”
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