LeBron On The Record Breaking Night, AD, Coach Ham x James Worthy Postgame | Feb 7, 2023

Center stage here is this moment for LeBron James who at age 38 in season 20 guys needed just 36 points as we just saw right there coming into this one a record that had been held by the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for 39 years Robin with 10.9 seconds to go there in the third. I said he has to get it by the end of the third quarter. Let's do this. He hits that patent fade away at the free throw line in front of family friends. The Laker faithful. That was a prop bet. We'll get to that as well in a moment. Rob, what a moment iconic moment, you know, let's first talk about Kareem, you know, I'm so happy that this record is broken in the sense that it puts light on how good Kareem was now. We got that out of the way, but let's talk about LeBron. The one thing they do have in common is longevity and that's what this game is about. This guy sits alone at the top and we're going to sit here and probably say let on we don't think this is ever going to be broken but 20 years later someone might break it. But you know if you but I don't think anybody has the discipline as LeBron and he's, you know, and also look at his create. He hardly ever got hurt. And so you look at so many guys like KD. He's hurt. Now you think of Steph. He's hurting all these guys had ability to score. They get hurt. But this guy hardly ever gets hurt. But you know, I look at this record if I'm LeBron, I'm like, okay, you don't look at, you know, in basketball is a team sport. You don't look at this as a team of confidence. Look at this as an individual confidence. You think about the journey the Lakers have had, you know, and the people who've been a part of that journey, you know, from Elgin to Kareem to Mads to James to myself, you know, it's been a prestigious journey. But now you got this kid from Akron. I know we keep saying that but now he's a grown man doing grown man stuff comes in and passes cap, you know, when you think about Laker legend, we know we talked about Kobe Shaq and Magic, but we are we who played the game know how much we love and adore Kareem and what he did for the Laker franchise what he did for basketball. And now you got LeBron James who's taken to another level. He's global. He's come in and expanded on what Kareem has done and you look back and you said man. Wow, we were able to witness this, you know, I know for a long time LeBron logo was a witness this right? So we witnessed his greatness and he's done some great things so far and I'm just I'm just proud that he did it in a Laker uniform because that lets you know how prestigious the Laker franchise is and what they've done for the game of basketball. And I do have to ask you this Rob because we were talking about joking about it before the show and I know a lot of people have he's even kind of made it his own little phrase if you will. I'm not a score. And I mean when you are top five, you're now fourth on the all-time assist list as you mentioned. You're number one at the top of the scoring list. What can he say now? I'm not allowed to say that anymore. I am working on my assists game now, but you got to think about it is he people say he says that he's just a complete basketball player. He says I'm not a score. You are LeBron. You shoot 20 times a game. That means you will score. You are a complete basketball player. When you look around the league, there's not that many complete basketball player. When I say complete the guys that do it on both ends of the court and mind you this guy is 38 still competing at a high level, you know, think about you know, when you look at Kobe at the end of his career, you saw the injury. You saw the game where he didn't have the in the energy to get out and perform. You look at MJ when he was in Washington. He didn't have the energy for me. Magic when he came back, you got to think about it. It's hard to get that energy up. It's hard to build that momentum of each and every game. You know, his mind is a thing that we talk about his mindset on how he handles each and every situation because I know he just heard him talk about other day. It's about how he can't be regular can't be normal. That's okay. You know, because you were in an elite strategy unit upper echelon where nobody can be so you're going to be not normal for a while. You're an alien. Let's be honest. And so for him to be able to keep his mind right to go out and perform in a high level not just his body his mind because I know for me my mind was gone in my last year. I was thinking about running out, you know, running around the house of my kids, you know doing different things, but his mind is still in it. So I think he probably played for like four or five more years because his mind is sharp and his body is following. Where does this rank as far as some of the great things you have seen over the years be at championships or Kobe's 81 point game and and so on and so forth. Well, the the one that's the ultimate for me is the first championship in 1985 in the Boston Garden being the only team to win a championship in that in that nasty gym of theirs. That was an amazing accomplishment seeing Kareem break Wilt Chamberlain's record in 1984 in Las Vegas was another one but and then, you know, obviously Kobe's last game that game was so surreal and so special. It felt like an Oscar night James is funny. It's always so hard to follow you because the question I was going to ask you was compare the atmospheres Kobe last game and this game of LeBron, but you answered that. So now I have a question for you. I'm just sit back and say yo, man, why didn't you tell them that we need to be down there with you? We need to be set up just like we would set up for Kobe's last game. So yeah, your man, your Hall of Famer. They'll pull some strings, man. You know, Rob, I was thinking about that and you know, we need to really get down here a lot more especially big shot Rob, but we're going to work on that. I'm going to start, you know, I'm going to start, you know, pulling, pulling some rank here, man. Get you guys down here for sure. We should we should be doing all our games here. Exactly. And we need and we need and we need a new damn desk in the studio too. I believe we're going to stay downtown crypto.com arena. We're going to hear from Darvin Ham. He's speaking with the media. And I know winning the game is the most important thing. But seeing what LeBron has accomplished and I'd like for you to put into put into words of what how it affected you and your team. You know, I just think it was a blessing and an honor to be able to be a part of it. You know, I'm of a certain age. So I know what Kareem meant to the league just, you know, doing being a huge basketball fan as a youngster. Him being one of my favorites. Just, you know, from Power Memorial all the way up through UCLA and Milwaukee and him getting to the Lakers and him playing with magic and all the battles with the Pistons and the Celtics all through the 80s. You know, I know what Kareem meant to this league. He was one of the pillars that built this league that helped build his league. And then to see Brian, you know, his whole trajectory coming into the league, his young step straight out of high school and just what he's done to just transcend even basketball, like to just, he's become a global icon and all of the work he puts in on and off the floor, his businesses, him speaking out on social issues. His leadership, like I said, he's an example to not just basketball, young basketball players, but young human beings, you know, domestically and internationally for how to be a professional, how to have passion, how to be persistent, productive and never to be satisfied. So to be able to be out there with both of those guys, you know, see Brian with his wife, his kids, his mom, all his loved ones there celebrating this moment with him. It was truly, truly special. Darvin, just want to ask you about your history with LeBron and going back to playing against and then coaching against for years of what you've noticed about him as a scorer now that you've been inside the huddle with him and what you picked up on this year. I mean, just his willingness to attack from any and all areas whether he's handling the ball, whether he's off the ball, playing pick and roll as the handler and the screener, catch and shoot threes, threes off the dribble, pushing it with pace and transition, getting to the rim. I mean, he's multifaceted. You know, you can't put him in a box. He does a little bit of everything and does it well. And so just just seeing that it's fun as a coach when you can move, you know, your star players and we have a couple of them, guys where we can move them around to different areas and they can still be effective. Darvin, before the game and over the last few days, whenever we've asked you about this, you've always maintained like it's great, but we need to stay in the moment, in the game and stuff like that. Do you think your team did that early with all the emotion or do you think that maybe all the energy towards LeBron that it might have knocked you guys out of what you wanted to do? Yeah, I kind of felt like, you know, 66 points is a lot of points to score and a half, but yet and still we gave up 76. So our defense, you know, had its lows early and late. You know, our offense, I think, got stagnant and you know, the guys, they wanted to see Bron do what he did tonight, you know, and a lot of times I think the attention was more about, the focus was more about trying to get Bron to the record as opposed to just playing natural basketball and we were able to, you know, make some good plays and he did what he did, he eclipsed the record. But, you know, we just had too many mistakes. You know, our turnovers really, really hurt us tonight. They came out hot, making threes. It seemed like every three they threw up, they went in. But, you know, there were times we had lows and we could have just folded our tent, but we kept fighting to the end and this is, you know, this is not a lottery team. This is a really talented, young, aggressive team and their record reflects that. After the night, this win puts them at 26 and 28. They're right there in the mix with a hell of a player and Shea and a lot of good young players around them. So, their energy level, their competitiveness, it showed tonight. You know, they really had some big wins this year against some really elite teams. So, by no means, in no shape or form, were we, you know, overlooking them and just solely focused on the record. We knew we had to come out and play. It sucks that we didn't get the win on a night like this, but, you know, it's a lot of things to pull from it, a lot of things to take away. You know, again, I'm happy that Brian was able to accomplish what he accomplished and now, you know, we can just move on and try to submerge ourselves in the how do we try and get better and win games and win enough to where we can be situated into the postseason. Darvin, you've obviously played in coach and finals games and kind of crazy atmospheres, but can you remember a regular season game with this type of atmosphere and just how would you describe the scene overall? It was electric, man. And no, this, you know, the first time I've been in it, I have to think about it. But yeah, something of this magnitude, you know, outside of a finals matchup or finals win, like this is definitely the, you know, the electricity was in the building hours beforehand and, you know, he gave the people what they wanted, you know, in true LeBron fashion. So biggest thing is again to try congratulate him, you know, we love him. We appreciate everything he does, you know, for the NBA, for our franchise, for everybody involved with the purple and gold. And again, we have to move on and try to see if we can write the ship. Darvin, just the amount of factors on your team right now. I mean, we're also, you know, the last game for the trade deadline as well as sort of the pageantry at this moment. Has that just been a lot for you and your team? Is that just kind of a ton to operate under these conditions when you're sort of looking at a game like this, a milestone like this, but also just this time of year where a lot of things are up in the air. I don't know if anybody would go to Alaska and complain about it being too snowy or too cold. I knew this was coming when I signed up for the job, brother. It's the Lakers. It's prime time. It's high visibility. I love it. You know, it's disappointing and frustrating, you know, that we can't be as consistent as we need to be, but make no mistake about it. I'm extremely thankful to God for putting me in this place in this moment in time. Have a great staff around me. Got some fun players to coach in that locker room. We've shown what we can do. NBA business is going to be NBA business, regardless of what or who it is, you know, players, coaches, ownership changes, front office changes, doesn't matter. The ship is going to keep on moving and I'm just thankful to be here with a good crew around me. A great, great individual to work for and Jeannie Buzz, a great individual to work with and Rob Palenka and get to coach LeBron James every day along with those other guys, AD Russ, you know, special talents and we're going to continue to make sure that, you know, we're on the right track to getting us back to where we should be at the top of the food chain, but I'm not depressed in no way shape or form, man. I'm actually ecstatic that I'm even here and in this position and doing what I'm doing every day. Anthony, wondering if we could just get your inside view, what it's been like being with LeBron as a teammate for these years and, you know, how you've seen that path kind of culminate for him tonight, passing Kareem. It's been great. He's been a big part of our team's success, a big part of my success, you know, a leader, you know, in all kind of ways, all kind of facets of the game on and off the floor. You know, great human being, family guy, check all the boxes, you know, definitely well-deserved. You know, he put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this game. So I'm just honored, honored to be able to, you know, witness it live. Eddie, obviously what happened on the court outside of the scoring tonight is weighing heavily on you guys. In your opinion, what are the biggest things that need to change here over this final stretch for you guys to be the team that, the team that you want, you want to be? Win games. Simple. You know, they shot the ball extremely well, but that was our coverages. You know, them guys make shots, pass off to them tough shots, and you just got to win games. Very simple. Eddie, shifting back to LeBron for a second, would you kind of see anything different out of his preparation or some of the early action? And what was the sort of moment that maybe you saw it kind of come on for him that you felt like, okay, he's going after this record tonight. He's going to get there. I'm not sure if anything was different in his preparation. I don't really see him before the game. Kind of doing our own thing. But, you know, obviously it's a big moment, you know, 36 points is not really a lot for a guy like him who can score the basketball. And he got going early, you know. Got to the rim, got some layups, couple of dunks, three balls all working, got to the line. So, I knew when he, I think when he only had like 16 points or 18 points left in the second half, I'm pretty sure he's going to get it. And then you've seen him do this over and over, the turnaround fadeaway jumper on Kenridge. Did you kind of sense that coming when you saw the one-on-one matchup? Did you feel like that move specifically might be the one that pushed him over the top? Not sure. I mean, he has a array of moves, so he could have got to the basket, got to step back, you know, turn around. He usually does it on the baseline, left block specifically. But, yeah, I mean, it's a shot that, you know, he always takes and makes more times than he misses. Yeah. How emotional of the evening was it for you and your teammates getting ready to go out knowing that he's getting ready to become the all-time leading scorer? I don't think it was emotional for us. You know, we tried our best to go out and just play the game of basketball. Obviously when it happened, a lot of emotions, you know, for Bron, for our organization, for our team, for the fans, for the world, you know. So I think the emotions kind of, you know, kicked in at the end where, you know, it happened and everybody was just very celebratory of the situation. But before the game coming in, you know, we wanted to treat it as much as a normal game as possible. AD, when you say normal game, this is a franchise that is so rich in its basketball history with so many great moments. What was it like for you being a part of it? Not just when it happened, but felt like an NBA Finals game. Could you describe what that like? It was a great feeling, a great moment. Like I say, you know, well-deserved to a guy who's put so much work into the game, on and off the floor. I mean, he does so much for the game of basketball off the floor and obviously, you know, his numbers and his accolades individually, it speaks for itself on the floor. So it's a real moment, you know, everybody was definitely happy for him and Staples was back. I mean Staples, Crypto was back tonight, you know, look like it did pre-COVID. So it was good that, you know, 20,000 plus were able to witness that and, you know, us as a team was able to witness that as well. This is kind of the hard part about the situation tonight, the balance of it all, obviously LeBron with this opportunity, but then as a team, the urgency needing to win games. I think that's a very visible, frustrated Anthony Davis there. A quiet night for him guys, 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 of 9, just 9 shots. But here's the key. You've got the Thunder because there was a game being played who are a half a game ahead of you coming in when it comes to a very tight race in the Western Conference, Rob. We heard Dennis Schroeder say they need to go 19-9 over their final games. But all AD is preaching right now is we got to win games. It's that simple and tonight they didn't get it done. They didn't get it done. I think you can tell with AD, I can't speak for him, but I think he could feel like, okay, I'm glad it's over. We can get back to basketball because he knows he doesn't want to miss out on winning another championship. You got to get in, especially a guy like him who's been injured, who is playing well. He's trying to get back to that level. He's trying to hit those jump shots in the playoffs when they count more. And I feel like this whole, this game right here was one that was like, okay, if we lose it, so be it. But I also look at what Schroeder said, 19-9. For me, if I'm in a situation like this, I'm not saying 19-9 and we can only lose four games. We got to win six in a row to lose one. Win six in a row to lose one. And next thing you know, we in the playoffs. They can't allow us over nine games. No, that's, to me, that's way too many. Like two at the most that you need to lose because you got to get focused. Because if you look at this squad, you know, I know the trade day, the trade deadline is looming, but they have a squad with the schedule they have left that it's possible to win 24 to 20 games. And so they need to shoot for that. And that is their goal. Yeah, that is their championship run right there that they need to make. Thomas, we appreciate you taking these few moments just to be a part of history. What was that like for you? It was absolutely amazing. You know, something that will, I will always, always, if forever, forever remember, you know, something like this doesn't happen every single day. It doesn't happen in a lifetime, you know, for someone to break the scoring record that no one thought that ever would be broken by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who's, you know, one of the GOATs of all time. To say that I was playing alongside LeBron James, one of the GOATs of my time, is absolutely amazing. At what point of the night did you feel like it could get done? I felt it when he had six, when they said when he was less than six points away, it was like six or less, too. I saw that look in his eyes and he was determined to get that one and I'm happy he did, too. I feel like you were one of the guys really enjoying it. You were on the court when it happened. Oh, yeah, for sure enjoyed it, you know, just to be a part of something like that, of something in history, you know, just to be alongside of that and play alongside with them is absolutely amazing. You know, something I'm going to always remember. At the end of the day, you guys are trying to win games. Was there a little bit of extra pressure? Did you feel it? Was it an interesting, a different kind of vibe or was it just a normal game? It didn't feel like it, obviously. No, it was a normal game for us, but obviously, you know, one of the accomplishments was for him to, you know, surpass and be the all-time scoring leader, but we just got to figure out a way to, you know, get stops at the end of the game and then, you know, figure out a way to get a win. What's the focus for you guys going ahead to Thursday? Our focus is just refilling our cups, making sure guys are, you know, ready to go and then hop back on the game plan. I think we'll hop on a game plan a little bit earlier for the next game against Milwaukee. So, we just got to lock in. Last thing for me, when you're old like me, will you be telling your kids about this? Oh, yeah, for sure. I'm going to be telling my kids I was the one next at passing the ball and everything. I'm going to tell them, yeah, I told them, bro, I can clear up real quick. I'm just playing. I'm just playing, man. Nah, I will tell my kids, grandkids, my friends, family, everyone about this moment right here. You know, there's something that you just, you really can't fathom and it's something I'm forever blessed to be a part of. Thank you. It's the moments upon us. You take us into, it was one shot. You made the one shot to break the record. Was that a spot you're looking for? Did the play unfold before your eyes? What was the feeling? No, it wasn't. I mean, I just played the game as it's supposed to be played tonight, as I've always done. Didn't press myself, didn't, you know, overexert too much energy, you know, when it comes to, you know, the record felt pretty good. I felt in a good rhythm. And once I get in a good rhythm, then I feel like I make any shot on the floor, you know, to break the record. I was able to get to a really good spot on the floor where I'm very comfortable with and get to one of my patented fadeaway shots, you know, and I know a lot of people wanted me to go to the skyhook to break the record or one of my signature dunks, but my fadeaway is a signature play as well. And I was able to get it and it touched nothing but the bottom of the net and that was pretty cool. LeBron, Kramer has been the steward of this record for almost 40 years. When he broke it, will Chamberlain not attend? What did it mean to you to have Kareem here tonight, watching the game, but also coming up and sort of having that ceremonial moment of handing off that the record to you? I just think it's great for the game of basketball, you know, it's been talked about for years and years and years, you know, I'm a historian of the game. So I know what, you know, guys like Kareem and Wilt and MJ and Magic and Bird, you know, Oscar Robinson, Elgin Bader, the rest, you know, I'm going to be up here all night talking about so many greats and legends, you know, for me personally, you know, it's just an honor to be just named with the greats, be in a conversation with the greats that played this game before me. That's some of the greats that's playing right now. And then it's going to be some greats that play, you know, when I'm done playing the game, you know, so it's always just some surreal feeling me and my boys, my guys, we talk about all the time, you know, about how we used to watch these guys and how we used to compare these guys or we think we were those guys when we were playing, you know, AAU or just playing around in the backyard or whatever the case may be. And now we actually, you know, up here with them, you know, and my name is being compared to him or whatever the case may be. So it's a real surreal feeling for sure. LeBron, everyone talks about who the GOAT is. How would you describe the GOAT and where would you put yourself in that conversation? I don't know man, you know, for me, you know, I think it's great barbershop talk. It's going to happen forever and ever. You know, if I was the GM or whatever the case may be of a franchise that was starting up and I had the number one pick, I'd take me. But that's just me because I believe in myself. I know what I bring to the table. You know, a guy that's been able to transform his game over the course of 20 years to be able to play any position in this league and excel in any position. You know, I can play one through five. You know, I've led the league in assists. You know, been able to do whatever this this game has wanted me to do and also just transform my game as well when the game it was when I first got into the league. It was very slow. I remember we I mean, I play off game with Detroit. We was in the 70s, you know, finals games. We was in the 70s with San Antonio in the 80s. You know, to now you so in team score 150 and you have to be able to keep up, you know, and more threes and things of that nature. So, you know, you know, just being able to stay, you know, with the curve and and change my game if I needed to or just improve my game, but that don't take away from nobody else. I mean, so many great players has played this game and as you know, has last long legacies in this in this in this game. This NBA is a beautiful thing and it's been some beautiful players to play it, but I can't take nobody over me. LeBron, you have championships, MVPs, finals, MVPs and countless other accolades. Where does this achievement rank for you among all your basketball accolades? I don't know the championship sit at the top because I'm a team first guy when it comes to understanding that you can't be great in this league without great teammates, great coaches that prepare yourself every single day to be great. So, you know, the championships will always sit at the top for me because that's just where I come from. I come from playing championship basketball since the first day. I ever played organized basketball when I was eight years old. So that would always sit at the top. I didn't set this. This was not a goal for me. That's why it's probably so surreal. And so just like weird to me because I never ever talked about being an all-time score in NBA history. It's never even been a thought of mine until I just I guess I start seeing my my numbers get closer and closer. I was like, oh wow, this is this is kind of crazy. This is like it's weird, but it's I can I guess I can do it because I'm gonna be playing and I know I'm still playing at a high level so it can it can happen. But I don't know where it sits. I've been able to do some incredible things in this league and hopefully I can do some more incredible things before I'm done. LeBron I'm gonna squeeze two in. Sorry, but one is you gave a long hug to the walkers as you were leaving the court and you know, you've got a lot of people here tonight that have known you forever. What does it mean to you to have those people here? And then the second one is just you had tears in your eyes when this, you know, when the celebration was happening like did the emotion surprise you the motion that you felt surprise you at all to answer your first question. I wouldn't be who I am today without the support of everyone that I got in town for this. I wouldn't want to know other way and you know, Pam and Big Frankie are a huge part of why I can sit up here today and talk about this. They took me into their household along with their three other kids. You know, at the time and made me feel like I was one of their own. You know, Big Frankie introduced me to the game of basketball. He was the first person to show me how to make a left-hand layup and now I love going left. I mean, I'm I feel you, I feel like I'm a left-hand dominant player because of Big Frankie. He told me you're not you will never be a good as good as you can be if you can't use both hands. So and he told me you also will never be as good as you can be if you don't get others involved. So he just taught me the game from a young age and I've taken those skills not only from the basketball side, but also the accountability inside of the household on doing chores every Saturday morning. My little brother's back there. He hated him. We hated him. I mean, we hated doing chores Saturday morning, but he was building young men and and it don't stop there, you know, so many different people along the way coach Drew Joyce is a big part of it as well. You know, little Jews back there and you know, so just to have people in the crowd today that has been along this journey with me from day one. It is like I said, I wouldn't want to know other way. LeBron I can only imagine still trying to process all of this. But when you are maybe thinking about I don't know if it's a future grandkid or a child who is looking up to you and what you've accomplished that the story or the moment of tonight. What is that one thing that is sticking out to you the most? I don't know Malika. I mean, that's a great question. I just think the you know, I love the I write that man in the arena on my shoe every single night from Theodore Roosevelt and tonight. I actually felt like I was like sitting on top of the arena tonight when that shot went in and the roar from the from the crowd. I'm not sure if I would be able to feel that feeling again, unless it's like a game-winning finals shot. But it won't be a stop and play. It's just, you know, everything just stopped and you know, and gave me an opportunity just to kind of like embrace it and look around and seeing my family and seeing the fans and seeing my friends and it was it was pretty cool. I don't really get to I probably can count on my hands. How many times I've cried in 20 years either in happiness or defeat you know, so you know that moment was one of them when I when I kind of teared up a little bit. It was it was I can't believe what's going on. Tears. Thank you. LeBron you've already said that you didn't come here to press but we've talked about all the people that are here and all the emotion. You're dressed for the occasion. Did you come here tonight to set to make sure you set the record? Well, yeah, because my boys leave on a red eye tomorrow night. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, I just had the mindset. I had to have the mindset and I dressed for the occasion, like you said, and I put on a headband because that's where the journey started and I would have had to pay for another room in a hotel for another night for my boys. If I didn't do it tonight, they would have been there to stay till Thursday to try to watch this. yeah, I'm very smart with this stuff with this. No, but I was tomorrow's not promised and if I had an opportunity to do it tonight and I was on I was gonna try to make it happen. And I mean, I was still super efficient. I mean, I wasn't out there just gunning. I was still super efficient and yeah, but I was able to get it done. Hi LeBron. Even though you and Kareem are different types of players and scores. What do you admire about what he did both to be a dominant score and have longevity in the league as well? I think you just said it. You answered the question, man. He has the most unguardable shot in NBA history and it lets you know how unguardable and how unique it is because nobody has ever even tried it. You know, you you know, you have the fadeaway to MJ perfected. A lot of guys, you know, have added to their games you know, you so it's a few shots in our in our game. It's like unguardable, but there's only one that's nobody's ever tried to emulate and and you add that to his longevity. It makes him one of the greatest ever played his game. LeBron, you said I never imagined that this is where I would end up. I wasn't setting out to do this. So what were you thinking that first night in Sacramento? If you go back to point number one about what kind of player you're going to be and what was ahead of you? What can I go back to that to that night? It was I was super duper nervous. I didn't show on my face, but I remember just sitting on the floor, you know at Arco and before the game and I was stretching and you know, it was a lot of rules that was broken at night. Now that I'm thinking about it was so many cameras on the floor while we're stretching that shouldn't have been allowed. But you know, I was a new guy in town. So I get it. I was just super nervous. I didn't want to I didn't want to let my people down in my hometown and I knew the expectations that was on me. That was like out of this world. I knew that you know, there were so many people that I was looking for me to fail. And so I kind of bottled at all that that that doubt from people and that that that nervousness that I had and just kind of like zeroed in and got back to saying I know how to play this game. I was taught the right way how to play the game for 10 years before I got to that point and I know for sure that it works, you know, and I know a lot of people say well, it was Little League and it's AAU and it's high school. But one thing I've learned being an NBA over 20 years that there's a lot of people not teaching the game the right way. And I knew I came from a group of guys and a group of coaches that taught us how to play the game the right way. And no matter how many times I've heard or why did he take the shot or why did he pass to an open teammate or why did he do this? Why do you do that? I never waver because I just I know for sure that it's the right way to play the game. So the 18-year-old kid was just super excited to just start his journey and I didn't know what to expect. But I knew I belonged and I knew I can I could play in this league with the big boys. Right here, LeBron. Congratulations. How do you feel about the all-time scoring leader logo behind you? Oh, it's pretty cool, man. They should have added a little powder above my head though, but I get I get I get what they were trying to accomplish though, but it's just to see my name up there, my last name and think about my family and my my two uncles weren't able to make it tonight. Uncle T, Uncle Kurt, love y'all. You know, my family name is everything to me and you know, anytime I leave the house, I know I'm representing more than just myself, you know, so it's a pretty cool thing. I appreciate it. Congratulations, LeBron. Thank you. I want to ask you, you talked about being the man in the arena. You've been the man in the arena for 20 years now. Can you talk about a bit what this ride? I know the ride is not over. The ride still has a lot to go and many highs to go. What has this ride been like and what was it like to reach this point in this ride tonight? This ride has been it's been fantastic. You know, we have a place in our in our in our home and not in our hometown, but not too far away from our hometown of Sandusky, Ohio called Cedar Point. And every so every so many years they come out with a new roller coaster and we've spent plenty of times going up and just testing out the new roller coaster. And you know, many many highs, many loops, how fast it is, whatever the case may be and you get off just feeling so much excitement and just feeling like I want to do it again. And I think my career has been like that. It's been like one of the great rides at Cedar Point in the sense that you know, your stomach drop at times. You're excited, you're yelling. Sometimes you can't, you can't, you can't breathe you but you always want to do it again, you know, and it's been a pleasure and an honor so far in my career within these 20 years that through the ups, through the downs, through the ins and outs, through the trials and tribulations, I've always maintained me and I've done it my way. I didn't want to emulate anybody. I wanted to give praise to everyone that came before me. I wanted to acknowledge that I'm a historian of the game but I didn't want to emulate nobody. I wanted to be myself and you know, if you stay true to yourself, I think you always feel better about the outcome, win, lose, or draw in life. So but it's been great. It's been great and I'm not going nowhere, but it sounds like I am but but I'm gonna get something to eat. I'm gonna go drink some wine and then I'm gonna drink some Lobos. I'm probably not gonna sleep tonight. So I will see y'all when I see y'all and I hope y'all have a great time too. Appreciate it.