LeBron James didn’t take long to shake the rust off. A couple of games into Year 23 — which is wild to even say out loud — he’s already helping the Lakers stack wins. Sunday’s grind-it-out finish against the Jazz gave L.A. its fourth straight victory, and LeBron looked a lot more like himself again.
But the moment everyone kept replaying wasn’t from the court. It was from the locker room. During his postgame interview, LeBron was answering questions with just a towel wrapped around him. He made a quick adjustment, and for a split second he almost revealed a little too much on camera. It didn’t happen, but it was close enough to go viral immediately.
The near-slip didn’t overshadow what he actually did on the floor. He dropped 17 points — his best scoring night since coming back from that sciatica issue — and added 6 rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he’s starting to look comfortable again. The Lakers are now 12–4, sitting in the two-spot alongside Denver.
“It was just fun to be out there”: LeBron James gets emotional about returning
This comeback means a lot to him. LeBron’s return pushed his all-time record for most seasons played even further, but the emotional side of it hit harder than the stat. Right after his first game back, he talked about how draining the whole process was and how strange it felt not opening a season on the court.
“It was just fun to be out there with the guys, man,” he said. “Like I said, it’s been rough like mentally for me. Like this is the first time I’ve started a basketball season and not played since I’ve started playing basketball at like nine years old. I’ve never missed the beginning of a basketball season. So, just going through that physically, emotionally, spiritually and everything just tested me.”
He kept going: “Keeping my head up with faith and it’s gotten me to this point today. It’s just great. A lot of joy, a lot of probably see me smiling and talking a lot on the court today, just being out with those guys, just so fun.”
With him back in the mix, the Lakers once again have their core together — Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and now LeBron all rolling at the same time. Next up: a matchup with the Clippers on Tuesday as they try to keep the momentum going.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
