LeBron James has spoken — and it’s a little longer than a three-word tweet.
The Lakers star addressed the team’s inability to land Kyrie Irving in a trade with the Nets, a day after the mercurial point guard was traded to the Mavericks.
“Definitely disappointed,” James told ESPN’s Michael Wilbon in an interview that aired Monday afternoon. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed on not being able to land such a talent, someone I know I have great chemistry with that can help you win championships, in my mind. My focus shifted back to where it should be and that’s this club and what we have in the locker room.”
What the Lakers have right now is a 25-29 team, sitting in 13th place in the Western Conference standings. The Lakers sit two games out of the play-in tournament with one third of the season to go.
The 38-year-old James didn’t hide his feelings on Sunday, simply writing on Twitter, “Maybe it’s me” a couple of hours after the deal was reported.
The Lakers, according to Bleacher Report, offered Russell Westbrook and first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2029 to the Nets. Brooklyn asked for Austin Reaves and Max Christie to be included in the deal before agreeing to terms with Dallas.
“That’s a quick pivot,” James said of getting over Irving, who he won a championship with in 2016 on the Cavaliers, going elsewhere. “It don’t take me long. I don’t get too excited about the possibilities of things that can be. I kinda envision myself on what it can, but I don’t invest all the way until I know it’s happening.
“And when it does not happen, I’m back, locked into the job at hand. We had an opportunity. Our names were out there, the Lakers name was out there. We had an opportunity, didn’t happen and we move on and we finish the season strong and try and get a bid in the postseason. I feel if we go in healthy we can compete with anybody.”
Irving instead joins Luka Doncic and a 28-26 Mavericks team that has underwhelmed this season after a trip to the Western Conference finals a year ago.
Now James’ immediate goal will be breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record. James stands 36 points behind Abdul-Jabbar’s mark of 38,387 points heading into Tuesday night’s game in Los Angeles against the Thunder.