CLEVELAND -- Following the Cleveland Cavaliers' 121-112 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, LeBron James grabbed Lonzo Ball for a postgame chat.
Unfortunately for the lipreaders out there, James made sure to cover his mouth with his jersey and declined to share what he said to the Lakers rookie point guard when asked by reporters.
Yet despite James' best efforts, it appears his comments to Ball have been revealed. A user on the NBA Reddit message board found footage of James and Ball's postgame chat, which happened to include a microphone feed.
The audio captured picked up James saying something to the effect of:
"Find your zone and just stay f—ing locked in. The media is going to ask you what I told you right now. Tell them nothing. Just be aggressive every single day.It’s white noise to you. That’s all it is. Alright? Let’s go."
James was right, as Ball was in fact asked what the 4-time MVP had said to him -- which he declined to share. The conversation, of course, fueled social media speculation that James would join the Lakers in free agency in 2018 -- despite an ESPN report on Thursday that Los Angeles is a "long shot" to land the 13-time All-Star.
And while James may be guilty of playing into those rumors with his secrecy, his recently revealed comments help to provide context to what turned out to be words of encouragement. James may not be Lakers-bound -- he's declined to discuss his impending free agency dating back to the preseason. But it's clear that he's taken a liking to Ball, who is already one of the most polarizing players in the NBA.
