LeBron James moved himself to a position, and began to keep his promise to Lakers fans

After the losses, criticisms and apologies, James initiated a tactical improvisation that surprised Rudy Gober and instilled renewed hope in the Lakers.

And also: Irving persists in refusing to get vaccinated, even if the group pays a heavy price

Walla!

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18/01/2022

Tuesday, 18 January 2022, 10:50

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Danny Abdia with Washington Wizards fans (from the Wizards' Twitter)

"Lakers nation, I apologize and promise we'll be better!" Tweeted Baron James yesterday (Monday) following the team's chain of disappointments and losses from LA, which is struggling to live up to expectations. Less than 24 hours have passed, and it seems that James is already starting to live up to his promise. Indeed, both the Lakers and he personally, looked much better tonight in the challenging game against Utah, a team superior to the Lakers, and also one that rarely this season also appeared on a full roster.

It ended with an impressive Lakers victory, 95: 101, that instilled renewed hope in the team and the fans.

LeBron was of course above them all with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, passing the entire final quarter in the chin position - despite facing the menacing Rudy Gover.

James played quite a bit in the chin position this season, mostly due to constraints and injuries, but tonight it was already an initiated tactical move that turned out to be a flashback, igniting the Lakers ’0:13 run en route to victory, with a 17:29 final quarter to their credit.

Not very surprisingly, the one who proposed the strategic change is LeBron himself.

Coach Frank Vogel adopted the tip, and in retrospect it turned out he was right.

More on Walla!

LeBron knocked out Gober, Boker scored 48 in the Phoenix win, the Bucks faltered

To the full article

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"I'm just trying to put myself in the best position to be able to win games," he explained. "My goal is to read the game as it happens. This time I just knew what the right path was for us on offense - I realized we needed a low vehicle capable of attacking the ring and making Rudy work hard. I'm glad the guys responded well to what I saw."

The good news is that Anthony Davis is slowly recovering, and received approval tonight to return to 5-on-5 training with touch. It's still unclear when exactly he will return to the pitches, but even after that happens, LeBron may continue to get minutes as a center, and in general it looks like the Lakers will adopt that role for him ahead of the playoffs. Meanwhile LeBron looks much better than most of the natural chins in the league, or at least in his team. Tonight, for example, his minutes in the chin position ended in the Lakers' plus 22, while in Dwight Howard's minutes the team lost by nine points.

He suggested, Vogel adopted.

LeBron vs. Gover (Photo: GettyImages, Katelyn Mulcahy)

Either way, LeBron hopes this is a good start.

After the win he explained what was behind his tweet, saying that "we all understood that the level of energy and effort we put into the previous games was not where it should be ... I just take on the task of getting better and looking different, and want all Lakers fans to know "This tweet was not aimed at a specific person, but was intended for all the fans who go with us in fire and water. I wanted them to understand that it was about me, that I could not allow ourselves to look like this more later."

A notable moment in the game occurred at the end of the second quarter, when Russell Westbrook flew over Rudy Gober’s outstretched hands and finished a mighty dunk, which immediately went viral.

Westbrook has been under criticism recently due to his integration difficulties with the Lakers and there are already some who offer the team to trade him in, but maybe tonight's game he finished with 15 points, 8 rebounds and a reasonable decision, will herald a start of change.

"It was an electrifying dunk," LeBron praised, and coach Frank Vogel also added, "When you penetrate Rudy Gober, you have to do it at the height of aggression. Russ knocked a piece of the move."

Westbrook himself, by the way, again enjoyed teasing his critics, saying stingingly about the dunk: "Yeah, it turns out I'm still capable of doing these things."

A turning point?

Westbrook drowns in Gover (Photo: Reuters)

Kyrie Irving makes it clear: Despite Kevin Durant's injury, even though Brooklyn needs him especially in the near future, he has no intention of going back and getting vaccinated.

As you may recall, the coordinator was banned from playing in the Hunts' home games due to New York State laws, but even the special circumstances did not cause him to rub his mind.

"I think in this industry that we are in, we often come across such dilemmas. There are the interests of the group, and there are other things," he explains.

"Kevin is going to come back, we know he's going to be fine, and we'll have to deal with it as his teammates. But when it comes to my personal life, the ones outside of basketball, I'm sticking to my decision. So no, I have no intention of getting vaccinated now."

"I'm not just a basketball player."

Kyrie Irving, Tonight (Photo: GettyImages, Jason Miller)

According to Irving, "My decisions about my siblings' guest will not change because of something happening in the NBA. I'm very determined to continue to represent what I believe in. Again, I'll never try to convince anyone to do exactly what I do, but I live the "I live and know that my teammates are protecting me, the group is protecting me, all the doctors I spoke to are protecting me. And that's all."

Irving insists he is not trying to be a role model for anyone, nor is he trying to evoke sympathy among groups of vaccine opponents.

"It sounds pretty crazy to me that I'm one of the most famous unvaccinated people in America. I know I'm not the only one who's not vaccinated, and in any case fame does not matter to me. I understand the meaning of that. "

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• LeBron James

• Los Angeles Lakers

• Kyrie Irving

• Brooklyn Nets