LeBron James turned back the clock a bit Friday night against the New Orleans Pelicans by linking up with Austin Reaves for a lob. Despite that, the Los Angeles Lakers star had some regrets about the play after the game.
James completed the lob with roughly four minutes to go in the fourth quarter. It came off a turnover and a behind-the-back move Reaves used to free himself up for the pass.
THIS REAVES TO LEBRON ALLEY-OOP IN THE LAKERS W 😱 pic.twitter.com/y2V2ySE8NI
— NBA (@NBA) April 5, 2025
James crashed Reaves’ postgame media availability to joke about how much of a challenge it was physically to complete the play. After Reaves cracked a joke about how he chose to throw a “lob to a 40-year-old,” James jumped in.
“That dumba– lob set me back three days,” James could be heard saying.
LeBron James providing background commentary during Austin Reaves’ media availability, Part 1 of 3: “That dumbass lob set me back three days” pic.twitter.com/DzlplI3bxM
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 5, 2025
Reaves enjoyed the back-and-forth and admitted that he regretted not having the chance to play with James earlier.
“I told him on the bench, I wish I had played with him about ten years ago, because I would have threw the craziest lobs,” Reaves said.
At age 40, James cannot get up for a lob pass quite as easily as he could have earlier in his career. As an added concern, he had already hurt his thumb earlier in the contest, but this particular play came off perfectly.
James scored 27 points with eight assists in a 124-108 victory. Reaves actually bested him with 30 points, and when that happens, the Lakers are tough to beat.
