LeBron James wants Rams’ parade to be for Lakers and Dodgers too

LeBron James was forced to imagine how Los Angeles would celebrate his title with the Lakers, the city unable to host a parade while it managed a strategy to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in its relatively early stages.

It’s why he tweeted about a joint celebration — pandemic champions like the Lakers and Dodgers celebrating with the Rams. He knows how special it is, and he knows that title-winning Lakers team won’t get it.

“I already know what we missed and, more importantly, I feel bad for my teammates who won their first championship and what they missed,� James said Tuesday. “… The parade is like, it’s really a culmination of everything. You really get to rejoice and celebrate with the fans in a more intimate setting, so I feel bad for, like, my teammates who didn’t get the opportunity to have that feeling — I’ve done it three times.�

He knows the Rams’ victory parade Wednesday will be that team’s moment with the city, fans in blue and yellow honoring their win in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday at SoFi Stadium. James was at the game witnessing it from his suite surrounded by family and friends. He called the experience “phenomenal.�

James is close friends with a number of Rams players, especially wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Despite being a Cleveland Browns fan, as an adopted Angeleno, James was pulling for the Rams on Sunday.

Lakers

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Feb. 14, 2022

“As a kid growing up, the Super Bowl and Christmas kind of went hand in hand for me, as far as excitement,� James said. “I couldn’t sleep the night before Christmas when I was a kid and I couldn’t sleep the night before the Super Bowl.�

James probably got a good night’s rest after the game, though. He joked that he drank tequila for 12 straight hours — his Lobos 1707 brand, of course. Name-dropping the tequila after practice was free advertising compared to the Super Bowl ad he starred in Sunday for Crypto.com, with James meeting his 17-year-old self face to face.

“My mom couldn’t understand how she was seeing her son from 20 years ago once again,� he said. “My best friends said the same thing… they didn’t understand what the heck was going on. It was pretty cool.�

For James, who had seen the commercial before its airing, the nostalgia hit hardest during the halftime show because it felt mixed with progress.

“To have a performance like that where Black hip-hop artists are performing at the Super Bowl? I had a moment of like, chills. A moment of like, ‘Black Panther,’ the movie feeling. I had a proud moment to be there and to see hip-hop being represented at the highest spectacle of any sport,� James said. “… And it only made it right that Snoop and Dre did that in L.A.�

James knows that for the Lakers to have any of that postseason excitement in their house, they have much work to do. The Lakers (26-31) host the Utah Jazz on Wednesday with a chance to snap a three-game losing streak.

“It’s to be seen. Obviously, we don’t know,� James said of building momentum. “I feel like we had a great 48 hours on the practice court, got a lot of work in. And hopefully, we can carry it until tomorrow night.�

Anthony to sit again

After some optimism that he’d be able to return Wednesday, the Lakers ruled out Carmelo Anthony, who continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

“He did some work yesterday,� Coach Frank Vogel said. “He didn’t play live yesterday but had a pretty good workout and then got up and down [the court] today.�

Anthony’s missed the last five games. He originally was going to be listed as questionable, but after meeting with the medical staff, the decision was made to save Anthony’s return until after the All-Star break.

Anthony’s averaging 13.4 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 39.2% from three-point range.

The Lakers are 2-5 in games that he’s missed.

UP NEXT

VS. UTAH

When: 7 p.m., Wednesday

On the air: TV: Spectrum SportsNet, ESPN; Radio:1110, 1330

Update: The Lakers have one final chance to get a good win before the All-Star break, hosting the Jazz — the last good team the Lakers defeated. Since that Jan. 17 win, the Lakers are 4-9, their season slipping further out of their hands with each challenge they fail to meet. If there’s reason for optimism, though, it’s that the Lakers are coming off of a strong game in Golden State in which LeBron James called them their “most connected.� The Jazz (36-21), meanwhile, went 6-0 on their just-completed homestand, boosted by the recent returns of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.