Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jaylon Tyson did not mean to come at “The King.”
Following the Cavs’ 129-99 victory over LeBron James and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, Tyson confidently said during a postgame interview that Cleveland is “Donovan Mitchell’s city now.”
Mitchell appeared to be caught a little off-guard by his teammate’s hype job, but acknowledged it nonetheless.
Later on, Tyson apparently felt compelled to apologize for his statement, as some may have interpreted it as disrespectful, considering the presence of James, the clear GOAT of Cleveland basketball.
“I mean, there was no disrespect there,” Tyson told reporters in the postgame press conference, via Danny Cunningham of “Locked On Cavs.”
Tyson then showed tremendous respect for James, who led Cleveland to an improbable 2016 NBA Finals win over the Golden State Warriors, before issuing his apology.
“If I offended anybody or anybody got mad about it, I’m sorry. I take personal responsibility, but I just wanted to give the man his flowers because we want to do the same thing that Bron and them did here. We want to do that with him as our leader.”
Maybe there was nothing for Tyson to apologize for, but either way, he and the Cavs got the win and spoiled what could be James’ final game in “The Land.”
Tyson scored 20 points in the win over Los Angeles, while Mitchell had 25 for the Cavaliers, who improved to 29-20.
