NBA ALL STAR

March 7, 2021

LeBron James

Team LeBron

Press Conference

Team LeBron 170, Team Durant 150

Q. LeBron, was being out there and kind of watching Steph and Giannis and stuff like that, how much fun was that? Did it get fun for you at any point?

LeBRON JAMES: Absolutely. That's why I drafted them, man. It's guys that I obviously compete against on a nightly basis. But guys that I'm just in awe of. Giannis and Steph, it's my first time teaming up with Steph, and it was an honor to be on the floor with him. A guy that I've seen come and be the player that he is today. It was just great to be out there with Steph and Giannis and the rest of the guys, too.

Q. Obviously this process was kind of -- it is what it was, I suppose, probably without a better way of putting it, but now that you're through it, $3 million for HBCUs, what did you make of the day?

LeBRON JAMES: Well, any time you're able to benefit a situation like HBCUs or give back to the communities that don't get the support that we wish that we would get more of, I think it's all beneficial. All in all, obviously the league did a hell of a job of being able to put this together still. The PA did a great job of backing that, and then us as players we came in and did our job. We'll get ready for the second half of the season.

Q. What do you do now the rest of this week?

LeBRON JAMES: Head back to L.A. and spend a couple days with my family and then start preparing. I'm going to keep my body fresh, work out, train and just get ready for the second half.

Q. Do you think these couple days can be a recharger for you? Is it enough time?

LeBRON JAMES: I hope so. Is it enough time? I'll take any time, obviously. So I'll take full advantage of the time that we have. Is it enough time? No, it's never enough time, but we're not on the side of time. I'm not on the side of time. I'll take full advantage of what I have and be okay with it.

Q. You guys have been pretty open about having to use games as practices. Practice in the 2021 season probably isn't a real thing. What can you actually really expect to get out of a practice now? What's practice in 2021 like?

LeBRON JAMES: It's very challenging. First of all, in order to get into the building you have to take a test. You have to wait 35, 40 minutes, sometimes an hour for the results to come back. Some guys' results come back faster than others. There can be a possible time where it could be an invalid test. You have to test again, so you may miss a workout that you have scheduled. You may miss prepping yourself to get ready for a practice, and then once you get into the building, it's just very challenging. You're playing every other day. You don't know when you're going to have practice time. You don't know as far as what the restrictions and with COVID and things of that nature if you're going to have all your guys.

So it's very challenging for all teams, not just us. It's something I've never experienced before in my career, and it doesn't allow you to -- practice makes perfect, and it's true, but we have not had a lot of time to do that.

Q. You're 4-0 in these games now when you've gotten to pick your team. Are you going to be a GM when you retire?

LeBRON JAMES: I hope that they allow me to retire from being an All-Star captain, so I can retire with a perfect 4-0 record. I'll keep that forever. But we'll just see what happens.

I always try to pick the right team, and I've been lucky enough for four years to pick the right team. Guys go out and compete and play to win. I've been on the winning side of all four.

Q. I was wondering if there's been any debate or discussions ahead of the game to use this platform to again raise awareness for racial inequalities and stuff or is that a past thing kind of?

LeBRON JAMES: No, I don't want to say it's a past thing, but we didn't have any discussions about it. I think the one thing that our players do a hell of a job of always talking about social justice and talking about voter suppression and talking about systemic racism and things that go on in our communities and things that go on in America. We have this platform, and we always use that to the best of our ability on shedding light on those situations.

Q. With four titles, Finals MVP and other trophies, what's next for LeBron James? What is the next big goal? Maybe to play with Bronny in the NBA?

LeBRON JAMES: That's definitely one of my goals, but that's a long-term goal. My son right now is in high school and enjoying what being a teenager is all about. But that would be pretty cool to go on my resume if I'm able to be on the same court as my son some day in this league. The league has given me so much, and I just try to give back to it. So if I'm able to give back the way I play the game, the way I inspire the game, what I brought to the game and also be able to give back by giving my son or lending my son to the NBA, that would be a treat for me and it would be an honor for myself.

I've got a lot of things that I'm still passionate about and motivated about still doing in my career, and still trying to win championships. That is the goal right now, and that is the motivation right now.