After players completed the quarantine phase upon arriving at Walt Disney World, the Los Angeles Lakers held their first practice in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday night. Head coach Frank Vogel, LeBron James and JaVale McGee spoke with media via Zoom prior to the practice session.
Each expressed excitement with being able to return to the court with teammates. The Lakers — and all other NBA teams — were limited to individual workouts prior to entering the Orlando bubble and being medically cleared for full-scale activities.
While much has been made of the bubble environment, James and McGee both downplayed any concern and didn’t add onto some of the criticism that’s been seen across social media. James instead likened the setting to being back in AAU camp.
As for matters on the court, he laced up in the Nike LeBron 17 “Courage” that for now remains a China-only release.
LeBron laces up for the @Lakers first practice in Orlando!#NBAKicks #WholeNewGame pic.twitter.com/HAnr9l4PtI
— ???? #NBAKicks ???? (@NBAKicks) July 11, 2020
The iteration of James’ latest signature shoe is comprised of a black Knitposite upper with red accents around the heel and references to Chinese culture with “Courage” and “Perseverance” written on tags inside the collars. The shoe also features a dragon embroidered on the tongue.
The black outsole is accompanied by a translucent midsole with speckles and a reverse gold Swoosh.
LeBron focused on NBA championship, continuing fight against social injustice
James decided against putting an NBA social justice message on the back of his jersey, but that is not indicative of his focus. “I’m here for one goal and one goal only,” James began.
“That’s to win a championship. And to get better every single day. That’s my mindset. My mindset is to do that on the floor. My mindset off the floor is to continue to give education, continue to give guidance to my communities and communities around the world, in the inner city about how important our voice is, how important we are, and creating change.
“That is my main focus. I’m here to do nothing else besides play the game at high level, bring a championship back to L.A. hopefully and also continue to push the envelope with creating change for my people.”
The Lakers begin scrimmage games on July 23, and resume the regular season exactly one week later.
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