Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James addressed several topics following the team’s 115-113 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday.
While speaking to the media, James was asked about the upcoming anniversary of the death of Kobe Bryant, who died on Jan. 26, 2020, at the age of 41 in a helicopter crash:
LeBron said he doesn’t want to “live in the past” or relive that day but does all he can to make Kobe and his daughter Gianna Bryant, who also died in the crash, proud while also carrying on Kobe’s legacy.
James was also asked about Martin Luther King Jr. since Monday’s game against Golden State occurred on MLK Day.
LeBron praised King for what he accomplished and the positive influence he had in the battle for equal rights for Black people in America before he was murdered in 1968. James said King’s legacy “continues to live on” and added that applying King’s ideals in the present day could “make our society a lot better.”
With regard to the game, James wasn’t particularly happy about a late call that went against him in the narrow defeat.
With 1:51 left and the Lakers trailing 110-108, LeBron was called for traveling. James said of the play, “It’s a move I’ve been making pretty much my whole career” and called for consistency from referees calling it the same across the board.
James took issue with the fact that Warriors forward Draymond Green slid his foot on a drive to the basket on the ensuing possession only for the same official to let the play go. Green netted a basket to make it 112-108, and the Lakers never managed to come back.
Monday’s loss dropped the Lakers to 11-4 on the season and ended a five-game winning streak, but they still own the best record in the league by a half-game from the Los Angeles Clippers.
Meanwhile, the Warriors improved to 7-6 and sit in seventh place in the Western Conference after posting the NBA’s worst record last season.
Golden State snapped a two-game losing streak and is beginning to show some of the clutch play and offensive ability that carried it to three championships in four years from 2015-18.
