LeBron James was a massive target of trash talk during last season’s playoffs and has been again in the offseason and preseason, and he’s revealed how he plans to respond.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone was the ultimate troll of LeBron during the playoffs and the celebrations afterwards.
Malone was quick to remind everyone of the sweep during the offseason and him and Anthony Davis have already had some back and forth.
Former Memphis wing Dillon Brooks absolutely went after LeBron in the first round of the 2022-23 playoffs against the Grizzlies and in August he was still claiming, “I feel like I always had him”.
Considering people like Malone and Brooks’ chirpiness, LeBron was asked if he feels the need to respond.
“There will be a time,” James said at Lakers practice on Saturday, with a wry smile. “When that time is? I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s now or — there will be a time. There will be a time when everybody will get it, for sure.”
The league’s greatest scorer will be thrown into the thick of it on opening night when the Lakers play the Nuggets on their home court in Denver.
It’s a big occasion, but James explained that there’s no one team that provides him with motivation, even if they are last year’s champions.
“I don’t get motivated against [who] the opponents [are] pretty much anymore,” James said. “I don’t need it. I don’t want to say I don’t get motivated to play, because I do get motivated to go against the competition, I love competing against the best. But I don’t need an individual or a team to motivate me. I’m self-motivated. I’m enough.”
The thought of winning another title is all the motivation the league’s greatest all-time scorer needs.
“[I am] still seeing that Larry O’Brien Trophy in my mind on a daily basis,” James said.
He has faith in his team to go the distance.
“We could be a really, really good team,” James said. “I don’t even look to June. It’s too precious — the game is too precious — and I don’t play with the basketball gods like that. I don’t take it for granted.”
LA vs. Denver will tip off on Tuesday, October 24 at 7:30PM ET.