CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from Jan. 19, 2021.
With a 115-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers improved their record to an NBA-best 14-4.
But while James remains focused on helping the Lakers defend their 2020 NBA title, the four-time MVP admitted after the game that he still pays attention to the Cavs, who he played for from 2003-2010 and 2014-2018.
"I still watch them because I still got a couple of teammates on the team and then like a little brother of mine is on the team, as well, in Darius Garland," James said. "Obviously, [Kevin Love] is still here. Cedi [Osman] is like one of my -- obviously, you guys know my relationship with Cedi, I love that kid so much. I got an opportunity to play with Larry [Nance] Jr. as well. And then the staff, I didn't play for Coach J.B. [Bickertstaff], but a lot of their staff members are still over there as well that I spent a lot of years with."
As for the state of the Cavs franchise, Cleveland is now in the midst of the third year of its rebuild following James' departure for Los Angeles in 2018. At 8-9, the Cavs are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a promising core of young players headlined by third-year guard Collin Sexton having emerged.
And having watched from afar, the most famous player in franchise history has taken notice.
"I always pay close attention to what's going on and I think J.B. has done a hell of a job and they've been drafting well and made a couple of trades, but you could tell that team is improving," James said. "They've got some young guards that's very dynamic in Collin and Darius and the rest of it they can build around. They've got some very young pieces that they can put their future behind, so we'll see what happens."