LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are in the middle of a rough patch right now. The team lost to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, 127-113, to fall to 17-19 on the year following their fourth loss in a row. Since beating the Indiana Pacers in the final of the In-Season Tournament, the team is 3-10, and head coach Darvin Ham keeps tinkering with the team’s starting lineup in an effort to find a unit that can get the job done.
All that is to say that James wasn’t in a particularly good mood on Friday night, and unfortunately for one reporter, that meant being on the other end of a tongue lashing from the future Hall of Fame inductee. James was asked about the recent decision by longtime veteran Ricky Rubio to retire from the NBA and his career in the league, which … didn’t go over well.
LEBRON: “If I don’t seem sincere in this video it’s because we got our asses whooped again and I apologize. It was actually bad timing on the interviewer asking me this question. It is not me Ricky. So, congratulations.” pic.twitter.com/hoYDg04Ebe https://t.co/hUydMmsb0R
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 6, 2024
“I’m not really in the mood to answer that question, but I respect Ricky,” James said. “Congratulations on a hell of a career, and if I don’t seem sincere when you see this video, it’s because we got our ass whooped again, and I apologize. So, it was actually bad timing on the interviewer asking me this question. It’s not me, Ricky. So, congratulations.”
James and Rubio were never teammates, but crossed paths as competitors plenty of times in their careers in both the NBA and as members of their national teams — the two famously were part of the United States and Spain squads that went head-to-head in the gold medal game at the 2008 Olympics. Regardless, James is the most authoritative voice in the league on basically everything, so he’s no stranger to getting asked questions about stuff that goes well beyond himself or the Lakers. This reporter just happened to ask this question on the wrong night.