By Stefan Djordjevic/ info@eurohoops.net
LeBron James has remained optimistic about the possibility of finishing the NBA season but if that doesn’t come to fruition, although he wouldn’t find the needed closure, he would be proud of what his team and everybody supporting them managed to accomplish.
Especially off the court: “Everything that we’ve been going through this season, just the ups and downs — not only on the floor, but off the floor; everything that we’ve had to endure as the Laker faithful and us as players and the coaching staff and the organization, it’s been so much. So, closure? No. But to be proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish to this point, I’ll be able to look back and be like, ‘OK, we did something special in that small period of time,” he said, per ESPN.
There are, of course, also the on-court triumphs: “I can have some satisfaction on what our team has been able to do this year, having a first-year coach, first-year system, a whole new coaching staff, bringing on so many new pieces to our team this year. Doing the things that I honestly — like I told you guys all year — I honestly didn’t think that we would be able to come together as fast as we did. I thought it would take us a lot longer than it did. But I was wrong. I was very wrong about that.”
James wasn’t thrilled at all about the idea of playing without fans when it was first introduced, however, he seemed more open to the idea this time around.
“If it comes to a point if we’re playing without our fans, we still know that we have Laker faithful with us in spirit. We know they’ll be home cheering us on, online, on their phones, on their tablets watching us playing, so hopefully we can bottle that energy that we know we’re getting from them. Bottle that loyalty that they’ve had for not only this year, but since the Lakers have been in Los Angeles. So hopefully we’re able to channel that. Channel that energy, channel that focus and bring them with us if we’re either at Staples without fans or we’re somewhere in an isolated location playing the game of basketball,” he noted.
And the same goes for the possibility of playing in a single location with prior safety and quarantine procedures.
“I believe once [the pandemic is] under control and they allow us to resume some type of activity, I would love to get the season back going. I feel like we’re in a position where we can get back and start to compete for a championship, get back to doing what we love to do, making our Laker faithful proud of us, of being back on the floor. And if it’s in one single, isolated destination … 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 also off the floor, as well — then those conversations will be had. Just figuring out a way.”