Face it, LeBron James will never be "all smiles" after a game unless his team has just won the championship. But hearing Bron credit his coaching after the Lakers' win against the Portland Trail Blazers must have been music to Luke Walton's ears.
Earlier in the week, it was reported that Magic Johnson and Walton engaged in a serious one-on-one meeting, the message being: results are expected now that LeBron James has joined the purple and gold.
"I mean, it's great to win, period," James said when asked to comment on the drama surrounding Walton. "Listen, coaching staff put us in a position to win, and it's up to us to go up and execute."
LeBron continued, reiterating that he has no say in personnel choices; his concentration is based on what occurs on the court and in practice, or so he says. "Luke can care less about what's going on outside. We could as well. I'm the last person to ask about scrutiny or anything of that nature. So none of that stuff matters to me," he added.
The Lakers nearly bungled a 20-point lead with under ten minutes in the game (last night), with LeBron scoring 10 of his 28 points in the 4th quarter to seal the win. The Lakers go into tonight's contest against the Toronto Raptors with a 4-5 record.