NBA IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT

December 9, 2023

LeBron James

Anthony Davis

Los Angeles Lakers

Championship Postgame

Lakers 123, Pacers 109

Q. LeBron, after spending three days here in Vegas, you got a sense for the kind of fan support in the city. I was curious about your observations now of Las Vegas as an NBA city?

LeBRON JAMES: Has not changed. My enthusiasm about being here post-career, bringing a team here has not changed. The fans are amazing here. They have everything already: WNBA team, they have a baseball team coming in soon, NFL team, hockey team, F1 was just here over the Thanksgiving week. Everything is here. This is a place that loves great attractions and I think the NBA will be another great addition to this city.

Obviously we see the success with Summer League and things of that nature and the Aces as well. It will be fun.

Q. AD, LeBron led the way in the semifinal and you took things over tonight. All the times that you played together, winning the title, the other big games in the playoffs, how did you come together and do it again in this context?

ANTHONY DAVIS: We've been doing it together for a long time, five years now, and we just figure it out. We know each other's tendencies, what we like to do. Obviously in crunch time, we get to our infamous pick-and-roll and it's tough to stop.

We feed off one another. Thursday, LeBron had it going. Tonight, it was me, and he still did his thing.

But it wasn't just us two. Obviously the whole team, Austin, D-Lo, everybody contributed tonight. Cam with his defense. T.P. It was a great team win tonight.

Q. You two guys celebrated a title together feels like forever ago in Florida, but what did this experience with this group tell you about those prospects moving forward? And did the intensity of these games show you that this could be a group that has a real shot at doing it again in May and June?

LeBRON JAMES: I think that's thinking too far down the road. We want to put it in perspective that it's still December. We like where we are right now but we want to continue to work our habits, continue to get healthy as well.

But I think right now where we are in December, I would take it. I would take it. But I'm definitely not looking to May and June. That's too far. There's too many steps that need to be taken still in order for our team to be who we want to be once the postseason starts.

As of today, I like the way we played in the semifinals on Thursday and then tonight. Our defensive intensity, in order for us to win and win at the highest level, we have to defend. We've been doing that over the last few weeks.

Q. The stats won't count tonight toward the regular season, but the way that you were the catalyst for the defense, what does it mean for you to do that in a game that matters?

ANTHONY DAVIS: Obviously means a lot because it helped the team win. But any time I step on the floor, I know I'm the anchor of the defense, giving guys the freedom to press up and get some ball pressure, and if they get beat, I'm there at the rim to alter the shot or block it.

But that's my job. I'm constantly talking with the guys. Especially me and Bron have great chemistry as far as our defensive schemes and what we like to do, the four and the five. Overall, I think we've been locked in defensively. Obviously it helps getting Vando back and Cam and Rui. We're able to do a lot more things defensively. But it's my job to be the anchor and lead the team on the defensive end.

Q. LeBron, you've now played five seasons and counting with AD. That's more than you played with Dwyane and Chris Bosh in Miami, and more than you've played with Kyrie and Kevin in Cleveland. What has he meant to your career?

LeBRON JAMES: Everything, especially at the later stage of my career, to be able to get a young, hungry alpha male to go out there and just do the things that he does. It's definitely given me an opportunity to be able to not only watch as he's continued to grow, but also be able to try to inspire him as well as he continue to grow in his career and vice versa.

I feel like when we are on the floor together and we're healthy, we know when we're capable of doing. We've played too many games together, shared too many moments together, played in too many big moments together to fail each other. It's been everything, like I said, especially at the later stage of my career.

Q. Seems like I ask you guys this question often, but what does it mean to have Austin Reaves play at this level?

ANTHONY DAVIS: Means a lot. What he did tonight, but what he's been doing this entire season has been unbelievable. He actually takes a lot of pressure off us, too. We draw so much attention and he's able to go one-on-one or playmake for himself or for the other guys.

He's meant a lot to our organization and to our team. There's nothing that he can't do on the offensive end, and he's locking in defensively. He means a lot to our ballclub, and it just shows every time he steps on the floor.

Q. You just said you know what you and AD are capable of when you guys are on the floor together, but no one from this current roster, no one else was on that championship team, what have you learned about the rest of the group over going 7-0 in the In-Season Tournament?

LeBRON JAMES: Just growth. I think every moment we grew. The In-Season Tournament, 7-0, it's been high-intensity games and we've just grown. I feel like guys have felt a lot more comfortable in their roles. We've had a pretty good understanding of rotations. You know who you're going to be playing with and you know what you guys want to do out on the floor.

And like AD said, getting Vando back, getting Rui back has helped our frontcourt, our size, and getting Cam back has helped us a lot. Not too many people talk about it, but one of the biggest shots of the game was they made their run, cut it to three and Cam hits that big-time three in front of our bench to put it up six. We didn't go back after that. Cam has been big-time for us and I'm happy to see him thrive under this role with us because he deserves it, for sure.

Q. There's a lot said about you and your offensive performances throughout the regular season. To have this kind of performance, 40 and 20 on this stage what does it mean to you and what does it mean for you?

ANTHONY DAVIS: I mean, it don't really mean much. I just try to do everything I can to win a basketball game. Obviously, my teammates put me in a great position to be successful. Obviously, this is special for us, just winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament. But we want to also win the same thing in June.

It's a step in the right direction, obviously, but even though it's a big performance, it's another game and we've got to continue to get going starting back on Tuesday.