LeBron James interview
By InsideHoops.com | Nov. 18, 2008
Tuesday night in New Jersey the Cleveland Cavaliers are visiting the New Jersey Nets. Before the game, InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner and a big stack of other reporters talked to Cavs superstar LeBron James about a wide variety of issues. Check out the full conversation here on InsideHoops.com:
Question: The speculation about your future, in 2010 or anytime, do you hear about it more than you'd like? Does it annoy you? Do you ignore it?
LeBron James: Right now, you read it, but you hear so much about it you can't avoid it. But at the same time I'm trying to focus on the team I'm on right now, and winning a championship. It gets funny at times, but I don't think about making a change at this point. I'm just trying to focus on the team I have here.
Question: When you were recently in public at the voter rally and said you're from Ohio and aren't going anywhere, can you go into what you mean by that?
LeBron James: I'm from there. So home is home, for me. And that's the way I was saying it at the time. Home is, no matter where you go, if you ever move somewhere else, home is always going to be home.
Question: If you read it, it sounds like the most definitive thing you've said as far as staying in Cleveland, "I'm not going anywhere, I'll be here."
LeBron James: Well, I am. I'm here. I've been here since I got drafted. And I'm used to being here.
Question: Talk about loyalty, and how big a factor it tends to be in things, for you, teams in general, this team, everything.
LeBron James: I think you do what's best for you and your family. And yu do what's best for your career. I think loyalty definitely has a big part to do with it, but the time that you spend with your respective team, you give a lot of loyalty. Every night I go out, play hard, that's loyalty. The franchise is going to do what's best for the franchise. For some odd reason, when the players do what's best for the players, it always comes back on us, and almost looks bad. But when the franchise decides to give up on a player then it's OK. So, we got to do what's best for us.
Question: Are you basically looking to be on whatever team can win a championship?
LeBron James: Yeah, absolutely. When I decide to make that decision, it's going to basically put me in a position where I can win multiple championships.
Question: How close do you think this franchise is to the championship level? And if you guys are really close, would that make it harder to leave?
LeBron James: I think we've made strides since I've been here. We've gotten better every year and I think this year is probably the best team since I've been here... And just because you go to a different team with different players doesn't automatically guarantee you a championship. I have to be smart about things.
Question: Is the addition of Mo Williams big in helping the team get closer to being a championship squad?
LeBron James: Absolutely. Anytime you can add a threat like that offensively, it helps our cause... It allows me to get easy baskets. Mo is doing a lot of things for our team, helps get us off early. He can create for himself, he can create for others. And it's always great to have him on the court.
Question: Talk about hitting free throws.
LeBron James: Just being focused. Practice time. Hitting free throws is all about getting in a routine and sticking with it. And I think our team hasn't been shooting them well, and it's kind of contagious. I'm starting to shoot the ball well. I have a goal of trying to shoot 80 percent and I'm close to that, so I want to continue the success.
Question: Fans in China like to watch your every move. Can you say something to them?
LeBron James: Thank you! Thanks for watching my every move.
Question: The way you're playing right now, the numbers you're putting up, does that have to do with Mo, with other aspects of the team....
LeBron James: It has to do with a lot, of course... It has to do with my hard work this summer, it has to do with the whole Olympic team, the coaching staff. I think everybody has a big part of what's going on with me as an individual. I go out there every night and just try to be the best player that I can be.
Question: Do you think in this day and age it's possible to average a triple-double?
LeBron James: It's tough... I think Oscar (Robertson) was unbelievable... It's going to be really tough.
Question: How great did it feel to see Obama win the presidental election?
LeBron James: Personally, it was great. Personally, it was more fulfilling to me because the day of the election I had a lot of elderly family members of my house, to get their opinion... they thought they would never see a day like that where we'd see an African-American president. It meant a lot, to a lot of people in my family. So it was unbelievable.
Question: What's your take on the Nets' inability to get a shovel in the ground, to start building their Brooklyn arena?
LeBron James: I don't know, man. I don't know. I haven't been hands-on in the problem... I'm not sure. I don't know if it's still in the works. That's not my problem. I'm not invested in the team or anything like that.
Question: Your friend (Jay-Z) who is invested in the team, what's his level of optimisim in moving to Brooklyn?
LeBron James: I don't know. I haven't asked him. And even if we did talk about it, I couldn't tell you guys.
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