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#LeBron #LeBronJames #Lakers #NBA #AnthonyDavis James’s first season in Los Angeles was full of defensive lowlights. But with Anthony Davis anchoring the paint, the Lakers have found an identity on the other side of the ball. The Lakers trailed by 17 points at halftime in Chicago on Tuesday, and by 13 points after the third quarter. A loss wouldn’t have been a disaster—no defeat this early in the season is—and the Lakers could have been forgiven for a letdown at the end of a road trip, having already won five games in a row. But these Lakers weren’t content to capitulate. After pouring in 93 points over the first three quarters, the Bulls managed just four in the first eight minutes of the fourth, as L.A. embarked on a 29-4 run to steal a 118-112 road win. What sparked the comeback? A surprising scoring surge with Anthony Davis and LeBron James on the bench—and a defensive improvement that, based on the first two weeks of the season, isn’t much of a surprise at all. “As t...

#LeBron #NBA #Basketball #LosAngelesLakers #Lakers LeBron James believes this offseason will be "critical" for himself and the Los Angeles Lakers after the franchise missed the postseason for the sixth consecutive year. "I've never played fantasy basketball," James told Bleacher Report in a story published Wednesday. "But I will be as active as I need to be for this franchise to get better. That's why I came here. I came here to win. And obviously, we need to get better, as far as our personnel. We have an opportunity to get better. And there's a lot of talent out there and a lot of guys that can help our franchise. So I'll be as active as I need to be for us to get better and go from there." With the playoffs out of the picture, the Lakers will enter into an offseason rife with speculation about the job security of coach Luke Walton as well as the construction of the roster. Seven of Los Angeles' 14 players are set to hit free a...

LeBron James overtook Michael Jordan to move fourth on the NBA's all-time points scorer list in the LA Lakers' 115-99 defeat by the Denver Nuggets. James, 34, who netted 31 points against the Nuggets, has scored 32,311 points, surpassing Jordan's tally of 32,292. He achieved the feat in 1,190 games, compared to Jordan's 1,072. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant have scored more points than James, who began his NBA career with Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. The Ohio-born player joined Miami Heat in 2010, returning to the Cavs four years later before switching to the Lakers last July in a four-year deal worth $154m (£116m). James appeared to send a message to Jordan with "thank you MJ" written on his shoe. Last month James became the first player to move on to  the NBA's top 10 all-time scoring and assists lists. He has won three NBA titles - twice with Heat in 2012 and 2013, along with another with the Cavs in 2016, appeare...

#LeBron #LeBronJames #LosAngelesLakers #LakersNation,  After signing LeBron James over the summer, it seemed like there was good reason the Los Angeles Lakers were heavy favorites in Las Vegas to make the playoffs. But after a 118-109 loss to the lowly Phoenix Suns on Saturday night, the view in Vegas is worse than ever. The Lakers now have plus-600 odds (a $100 wager would win $600) to make the postseason at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, by far their worst odds all season. They are a staggering minus-900 favorite to miss the postseason. Los Angeles was plus-240 to make the playoffs before Saturday's game and had minus-110 odds at the All-Star break. The SuperBook opened odds on the Lakers making the playoffs before the season with the yes heavily favored at minus-450 (no at plus-350). Although 59 percent of bettors thought James' Lakers would miss the playoffs, more than 83 percent of the money was on yes. This was heavily influenced by one bettor who wagered $5...

LOS ANGELES -- #KobeBryant says the growing pains #LeBronJames and the #Lakers have endured for much of this season are a necessary evil but that they will square things away soon enough. "They have a determination to figure it out," Bryant told Lakers play-by-play announcer Bill MacDonald at the team's annual "All-Access" event at Staples Center on Monday. "They will figure it out. They have talented pieces and Rob has put them in position with incredible flexibility. They will figure it out. So, enjoy the journey because we'll be champions before you know it, and then we'll just be laughing at all the Warrior fans who all of the sudden came out of nowhere." Bryant said James' approach to his maiden voyage with the Lakers is not conducive to long-term success for the team but was what the formula called for at this stage in the team's development. "It's a test of Bron's patience and also doing what he needs to do to...

#LeBron James won’t have to travel far to film in his first big-budget movie since moving to Los Angeles, thanks to a generous tax break from California. The #Lakers forward is set to produce and act in #WarnerBros.’ #SpaceJam2 , the long-awaited sequel to the 1996 basketball-themed movie that mixed live action and Looney Tunes animated characters. The new movie will receive an estimated $21.8-million tax credit to film in California, making it one of 15 feature-film projects to qualify for the state’s latest round of tax incentives. The $21.8-million credit ranks as the second largest in the program’s history, behind Paramount’s “Bumblebee,” a spinoff of the “Transformers” franchise that received $22.4 million in credits and opens in December. The actual amount that the Warner Bros. production receives could vary depending on how much it ultimately spends. “Space Jam 2” is expected to spend $100 million in qualified expenditures, including almost $43.2 million in below-the-line...

The #Lakers bring their record to .500 at 6-6 with a 101-86 victory vs. the Sacramento Kings behind LeBron James’ game-high 25 points, to go along with 7 rebounds. Lonzo Ball drops 4 assists including a beautiful half-court lob to #LeBron for the jam and Kyle Kuzma shows off his hops as he throws down a couple of thunderous dunks. #LakeShow ESPN , Published on Nov 10, 2018

A brawl broke out at the Lakers-Rockets game on Saturday night, with Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, and Brandon Ingram all eventually being thrown out of the game. The Rockets contest that Paul was provoked by Rondo when the Lakers guard spit in his face and have provided the league with video to support their case. Suspensions are likely to be announced soon for all three players. LeBron James first game as a Laker in Los Angeles did not go according to plan. With just four minutes remaining in Saturday night's game between the Lakers and Houston Rockets, a fight broke out as tensions between guards Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo boiled over. Punches were thrown, and James was forced to shift from playmaker to peacemaker, helping to separate and de-escalate the brawl. Paul, Rondo, and Ingram all threw punches and were all ejected after the referees stopped the game to break down how to allocate punishments after the dust had settled. Replays show the inciting incidents between...

As he prepares to debut with the L.A. Lakers, the NBA’s biggest star has emerged as one of the town’s hottest producers, setting up a dozen film and TV projects and starring in a new ‘Space Jam’ as he sounds off on Serena Williams (“I feel that struggle”) and becoming a Trump Twitter target: "What bothers me is that he has time to even do that." It's a Wednesday in early September, and LeBron James — newly minted Los Angeles Laker, $1 billion Nike endorsement juggernaut, noted Trump repudiator — is folded into a golf cart whirring across the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. Shouts of "LaaaaaBraaaan" and "Welcome to L.A.!" pierce the air. Here, where star sightings are routine and treated with studied indifference, the 6-foot-8, 250-pound James is a different story. Strangers ask for selfies, tell him how thrilled they are that he's in town and divulge their hopes that he'll revive what was once the NBA's most glamorous franchise. James, 3...

The Los Angeles Lakers opened their preseason Sunday in San Diego. Who cares! I don’t care. The NBA should shut up for at least another couple weeks. Did they win? Who were their opponents? Who led them in scoring? Don’t care! On the other hand, LeBron James logged his first (exhibition) game action as a Laker. It didn’t count as a basketball game, but it did count as an opportunity to work on getting used to the sight of LeBron in a Lakers uniform. It still looks  weird . Looks kinda weird! James played 15 minutes in the first half, then sat out the rest. The bounce pass to Ingram is filth; the effortless, laser-accurate outlet to Josh Hart is classic LeBron; the hairline looks pretty dece. For now. By Albert Burneko, deadspin.com

The Los Angeles Lakers obviously nailed the offseason by signing LeBron James. The team could’ve signed the rest of this website’s staff in the rest of free agency and still would have merited a B+ at worst for their summer. And Anthony plays like this. That being said, the decision the front office made that looks the most questionable at the moment is how they completely punted on filling out the roster’s depth at center. Right now the Lakers have two players that have played significant NBA minutes at the five (JaVale McGee and Ivica Zubac), one rookie who appears like he’ll be most effective there (Moritz Wagner) and zero great options to fill out all 48 minutes per night at that position. That is, unless they have a hidden plan waiting in the wings (pun intended, given where James has traditionally played). Or maybe a not so hidden one, since an anonymous Lakers executive has leaked that the team is excited to see LeBron as a small ball center in their version of a “death lin...