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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORSJune 6, 2015LeBron JamesOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day Q. LeBron, I guess I'll ask you, when did you first find out about Kyrie's situation? I know you guys have been through this before with him being out, but is there a difference it being at this stage against a good opponent like this? LEBRON JAMES: I found out about it yesterday when everybody else found out about it on our squad. It's a tough pill to swallow. Obviously, we've been in this situation, but we always knew at some point he'll come back. Knowing that he's out for the rest of The Finals and out for a period of a long time, first of all, it sucks for him personally. It's a huge blow for our team, especially at this stage. You want to try to be as close to full strength as possible throughout these games, especially when you're going against a worthy opponent like we're facing. So it's a tough situation for our team, and guys have to pick up in his absence. Q. LeBron, as far as your Finals challenge with Kyrie's injury, is this as challenging as 2007 or most challenging thing you've had to try to overcome in your Finals experiences? LEBRON JAMES: You know, I said it's going to be one of the most challenging seasons of my career from the beginning, and this just adds on to it. You know, we're undermanned right now. But we've got guys in the locker room that are ready for the challenge, and we look forward to the challenge tomorrow night. Q. Do you feel like you've got to be more aggressive or more a facilitator with this injury? LEBRON JAMES: Well, if I get more aggressive than 36 shots (laughing), I might have about 58 of them things tomorrow night. I don't know how much more aggressive you want me to get at this point. Q. How many minutes can you play in a 48‑minute game? LEBRON JAMES: At a Finals? Q. Yeah. LEBRON JAMES: 40, 41, 42. In regular season pace, I can give you all 48. I play extremely hard throughout the postseason, and I'd be cheating my team if I said I could go out and play 48 minutes. I think that's impossible. Q. Coming into this series obviously people thought the Warriors were the favorite. Now, I don't think I've ever seen a team you're on being written off the way you are. Is it motivating or is it annoying or are you just kind of down about the way the situation is, that this is going to be such a tough challenge? LEBRON JAMES: Well, first of all, I don't really know what the noise is outside. I haven't heard about anything, obviously, besides just Kyrie being out. That is the only thing I've heard. Understand that we was the underdog coming into the series, and with Kyrie being out people are writing us off. So, I mean, that's fine. That's fine. I'm motivated to get our guys ready to go tomorrow, and we will be ready. Q. J.R. was telling me that he used to play basketball with you in Akron in the summers early in his career. Can you tell me about that and how that came about and what your relationship was like from all the way back to those days? LEBRON JAMES: Well, I saw a gifted kid. I've always had an open‑gym policy for young guys that are trying to get better. He was one of those guys. Just seeing the talent that he had at such a young age, you know, we've had our friendship and that's gone a long way before, obviously, getting to this point in The Finals. Now we're teammates. He's had a heck of a career to this point. He's been misunderstood throughout his career. But this year he showcased and showed who he is and who he truly wants to be known as in this league, and that's a great teammate, a knockdown shooter, a guy who competes and plays to win. It's been great to have him as part of this team. Q. Steph Curry is your opponent in these Finals and you're going after the same common goal. Only one of you guys can win it. But are there any ways you can relate to him being now the MVP, the face of the league, and all the pressures that goes along with that? LEBRON JAMES: I don't think there's much pressure on him at all. I think he's had an unbelievable season. Got the MVP, rightfully so. Led his team all year long. I don't think it's much pressure on him, though. You know, for him to just go out there and play his game, he has a great supporting cast. He has a great team. But I think he just goes out and plays. I don't think anybody has put too much pressure on him to do anything besides what he's been doing all year. Q. Why do you play so well here, and is there something about Oracle that you seem to like? LEBRON JAMES: I don't know, man. First of all, I love‑‑ I always said I love the road much more than I love home. I don't know. I get excited to be on the road and trying to take the crowd out of it and make big shots with the crowd going crazy and things of that nature. It's a great fan base here. They know the game of basketball. They know so much history of the game. They've had so many greats come in here either from opponents or their respective team. I just try to be remembered when I'm in this building at the end of the day. Q. It came out that you and Steph Curry were born in the same hospital 39 months apart. Got any reaction to that? LEBRON JAMES: I think it's pretty cool. You know, it's the true definition of It's a small world for sure, being in this situation today and knowing that we were born in the same hospital, not too far apart. So it's pretty cool for our city, for the city that I stand for every single day when I wake up. To know a great guy like that was born in the same city, it means a lot to us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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