Los Angeles

In LA, LeBron James Says Billboard “Flattering”

In Los Angeles to face the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James spoke about the billboards recruiting him to the Lakers and also about why there's a frenzy in LA around his upcoming free agency

On Friday, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers held a morning shootaround on the campus of UCLA, and of course, a question about the recent billboards put up by a super fan recruiting the three-time NBA champion to the Los Angeles Lakers found James' ear.

"I saw them online," James said that he had not seen any of the four billboards in person, though one of them is in Westwood, close to the campus of UCLA.

"I'm 15 years into my career and fans in cities want me to play for their team and have dreams, I think it's pretty cool," James said, while grouping the billboards in LA with a similar stunt pulled in Philadelphia recently. "Listen, my kids see things like that. They think it's cool. I think it's cool. It's flattering more than anything that a fan of a team or somewhere will want me to play in their city. It's very flattering."

James stayed mum on his potential free agent destinations and instead said he was focused on the Clippers on Friday night. That response, of course, is expected from a veteran that has been the center of attention and controversy since he was a teenager.

"I understand that I'm a free agent at the end of the summer, so I understand the frenzy that comes with it," the Ohio native, though, didn't pretend to be oblivious of the rampant rumors linking him to the Lakers. "It's not my first rodeo. I don't talk about it too much. Like I said, I'll handle that when it comes."

Then, James added a bit more fuel to the raging wild fires of Lakers rumors, "I understand that the conversation happens here because, first of all, they have cap space. And this league is much better when the Lakers, the Knicks and the Celtics are all good at the same time. That's just how it is, so that's what also creates the frenzy."

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