First basketball.

Why?

I want to ask you about that group.

That kind of new group, You and the rest of the bench guys with tht and crew.

So it was a NATO run in the fourth quarter to start against Boston tonight.

It was 11.

Oh, six.

You know, if you include the third, what's going on with that unit?

And why would you guys having success?

I just played extremely hard, were coming from one another and, uh and we run, you know, myself tht You know, Crusoe cools and trades because we got a lot of energy, a lot of speed, Andre.

Just play a lot of ourselves basketball, You know what I mean?

That's our whole team.

But you know that that group particular eso you've got the bill by black history shirt on, Obviously Black History Month.

You're there in Atlanta.

Uh, just wondering the prime Could you summarize this whole year going back to George Floyd?

The tragedy everything that you went through And now this Black History Month What it means for you and just kinda for everybody, uh, to keep it all.

Really What you might Black History Month is every month they just happen to give us the shortest month of the year.

But Black History Month is all 12 months for May.

You know, we celebrate black excellence every single day, every single day of the year, 365 days and go around, go around around my house, holding around people, good people out, number around.

So you know, I love the fact that we get to celebrate it for a full month, and and people, you know that may not know about it kind of come together and things.

But at the end of the day, I'll celebrate black excellence every single day in Black History Month, I would say it's Black History Day, 365 days of the year, 365 66 on the leap year.

So that's just That's just how that's just how we rock around here and, uh, you know.

But it's cool to get started now, and we'll just keep going throughout the rest of the year and January of 22.

Are you feeling any more recognition off everything you just talked about this year?

I don't even I don't live my life trying to gain recognition for anything you know you do is right.

You call out was wrong and you go from there.

Yeah.

Truces.

Brown.

I wanted to get your take your comment or your perspective on the interaction that occurred with the courtside fans who were kicked out.

And do you feel like that?

Interaction exposed any sort of loophole in the Kobe Protocol if fans can take off their masks.

Delta Player.

Not at the end of the day that Z I'm happy fans were back in the building.

I missed that interaction.

I need that interaction.

We as players need that interaction.

I don't feel like it was Warner to be kicked out.

There was a back and forth between two grown man and which way said our piece.

He said his piece.

I said, my piece and then with someone else, jumped into it and say their piece.

Um, but I don't I don't think they were.

You know, she's been kicked out, but they might have had a couple of drinks, maybe, and they could have probably kept it going in the game when they've been about the game, no more so that the referees did what they had to do.

Um, e I mean, it's fine.

I don't I don't think, uh, you know, taking down the mask or whatever the case may be at that point, Time with harmed anybody but the people that was right next to her.

I wasn't close enough to her.

I don't think any of my teammates is close enough to him.

Maybe a couple of rest.

Maybe so.

I hope they hope they're OK, but yeah.

Safety first.

Yeah, LeBron.

Um, well, it's just it strikes me.

It's, you know, as somebody you've said all year, like I want fans, I want to see fans.

Um, does that get you more excited that when you see some people who are like you said a little willing toe kind of tone those waters, whether it was in Cleveland or here, just seeing those spaces like that close to you?

Oh, my Oh, my God.

Tonight he, uh you know, e don't want to say he went overboard, but it went a little bit out of balance, uh, to close toe comfort for me, and I said my piece and we could have moved on, but I think it was so close to the officials.

I think the official herded as well what he has said, Um and it kind of got blown out of proportion.

You know, it's just like sometimes on the floor, when two guys get into a scuffle, you know, or get into a little like Johnson and the rest come and try to break it up really fast, and it looks like it's bigger than what it really is.

That's what it pretty much was tonight.

But the difference were on the court, and we're not having any alcoholic beverages.

Eso They might have had some alcoholic beverages on the side, so that could have it made him feel a little tougher than what they really are, I would say, But to be clear, you are You are happy.

You were happy that this happened, though, right?

Like you enjoyed this.

Oh man, yes, I love our fans, Laker Nation and everybody else that's against Laker Nation.

Just just feels better.

Fans in the stands is just it's just better.

It's better for everybody, especially in the last game of a 14 day road trip.

Oh, hey, LeBron, I'm gonna have toe.

I'm gonna have to have an alcoholic beverage after this.

E o.

Uh, But Thio, ask a basketball question here, um, you guys, the last two games have had come down pretty close to you guys.

Make these defensive plays.

Um, how much pride do you take?

And sort of reinforcing that the defensive idea you guys had last year in these close situations?

I take all the pride.

Listen, man, I'll take this much problem defensive anything I do in the office of things you cannot control in the office of.

And if you shoot the ball well, you know, sometimes the bottom going for you, you have your mechanics perfect swing, swing ball.

You know, you get being unselfish, and sometimes the ball's going forward.

But the one thing you can control, how you defend you don't have to worry about the ball going in.

When you're defending, you have to stop the ball from going in, so being able to get your hands on passes deflection things of that nature, you know, tonight big play me just being able to get my hand on Capella on that slip to the rim, and I've been able to get out in transition um, you know, Dennis and a C hustling back and be able to get that still to on trade late late in the game and then, uh, you know, selling it with free throws.

So, you know, I take that responsibility, you know, 80 takes it being a workout command and things of that nature.

When we defend, we're just that much better, you know?

And we want to be the best defensive team in the league way.

Hold that with most responsibility.

Time for one more bill.

Hey, LeBron uh, before the game, Frank said, It's been kind of a blend of diligence and luck that has kept you guys from having any games postponed.

I mean, obviously, a lot of teams around the league have had multiple games postponed.

I'm curious.

Is there any in a macro sense for the season and what you guys are trying to accomplish this season?

What do you see as any advantage in just getting your games played on schedule?

We all want to say, you know, first of all, you know, we've been trying to be extremely responsible Hole Lakers organization way haven't had anyone that had to miss days or Whatever the case may be since we started, you know, we're doing our testing.

I understand, you know, for the majority of saying their rooms and and stand, you know, social descending things of that nature.

We're just trying to do everything that that the protocols is telling us we can or cannot do.

Um, you know, and just try to follow that to a T.

Some things you can't control, you know, way Don't know if this virus is airborne or if it's passed through person to person.

So what we can control is just, you know, some state responsible, you know, do the things that we can do and things of that nature.

And then, uh, it's allowed us to be full, you know, for our games.

You know, like I said and go out there.

And because of you know, the strict protocols and stuff, we haven't haven't you don't have really have much time to practice, especially on the road.

A lot of gems aren't open.

A lot of arenas are not open unless it's a game.

You can't really prepare things on the floor, so you gotta do it in the film sessions and things of that nature self to have our full group.

Like I said before, we, you know, use a lot of our games and as extensive practices, um, continue to work.

Our habits continue to work our strategic plan on how we could get better and better as the months go on.

So you know, to to look yes, but also through responsible being responsible.

A swell has allowed us to be whole pretty much about the season so far.

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