LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic all questionable for rematch against Thunder

As a franchise, Alba Berlin does not have the same global footprint as LeBron, whose salary with the Lakers this season ($50 million) is three times the size of Alba’s team budget for the 2024-25 season. But it is an enormously popular team in the city, with alums like current Orlando Magic standouts Franz and Moe Wagner. -via New York Times / April 7, 2025

What was seen and heard on a tour, however, was reminiscent of the mission LeBron James launched in 2011 to teach disadvantaged children to read. It’s a mission that grew into a public school James opened in 2018, I Promise School, and a job training program for adults that includes the first Starbucks of its kind. Something similar is happening on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Albert Gutzmann School, opened in 1972, is one of four elementary schools in Berlin with full sponsorship from Alba Berlin, the city’s pro basketball team that plays in the EuroLeague. Alba has dozens of employees in those schools providing counseling, sports coaching, after-school learning and a connection for the students (and their families) to a pro team that makes them want to stay engaged at school. Alba Berlin is the only basketball franchise in Germany, if not the whole EuroLeague, this involved in its local school system. -via New York Times / April 7, 2025

How much do you spend a year to stay in shape? JAYLEN BROWN: I do a lot—especially in the summertime. Y’all seen I’ve been doing those pool workouts and everything. Gillie/Wallo: Yeah, but I mean paying for training, food, regimen. How much you think? JAYLEN BROWN: It’s probably close—remember when LeBron came out and said he spends like a million dollars a year? It’s probably close to that. Not maybe a full million, but probably somewhere in between 500 and 700 [thousand], something like that. That’s because I have my own team of doctors. You know, you got to go outside of what the organization provides. I got my own trainers and stuff because the organizations only give you so much. Knowing I exert energy at a high level—on both ends of the floor—and I’m 240 pounds? That’s a lot. It’s a lot of wear and tear on your body, especially your knees, while playing 70 games. -via YouTube / April 7, 2025

Cuban’s latest appearance comes with Stephen A. Smith, where he responded to the claims that Doncic was overweight and out of shape. “Everybody saw him. It wasn’t like he was ripped and had a six-pack but what the biggest mistake was in trying to understand Luka is that he’s from the Balkans, he’s Slovenian. And you look at Nikola Jokic, who’s Serbian, and you look at Serbian players in general, they’re just a different mindset. They look at the game differently, they look at life differently, the guys that I’ve gotten to know from that from that region of the world are different and I think that was what was not considered as fully as it should have been.” -via Sports Illustrated / April 7, 2025

Reporter: ”What got into you guys to execute at that level?” Luka: “Whole team was inspired because Real Madrid won El Clasico basketball today.” -via reddit / April 7, 2025

Khobi Price: Final: Lakers 126, Thunder 99. LAL makes a season-high 22 3-pointers in the win over the league-best OKC. Luka Doncic: 30p/7r/6a/2s. Austin Reaves: 20p/3a. LeBron James: 19p/7a/3r. Six Lakers scored in double figures. LAL moves to 48-30. Back at it again on Tuesday night. -via Twitter @khobi_price / April 6, 2025

Dave McMenamin: Austin Reaves on the win in OKC: “It’s huge … And where the standings are, you could go from third to eighth in the snap of a finger. So for us to come in here and play such a good team the way we did tonight is big” -via x.com / April 6, 2025

The fact that Reaves went undrafted may have had something to do with his poor 3-point percentage as a guard at Oklahoma. Perhaps because he was asked to do so much creating on the ball, Reaves shot just 25.9% as a junior and 30.5% as a senior, numbers that seem odd in hindsight for a guy that’s now a career 36.8% shooter in four NBA seasons. This year, Reaves has made 188 threes with five to go, the 2nd-most in Lakers history, despite missing seven games. “The one area during the draft process he didn’t have was the consistent shooting, but we like to evaluate the mechanics of shooting, knowing that reps will lead to increased effectiveness, and he had good follow through, good spin on the ball, good arch, so all the things you look for in a shot,” Pelinka recalled. “It was just getting the reps in to become a shot maker, and that’s where he’s gone from a really good player to now a great player, because he’s a shot maker.” -via NBA.com / April 6, 2025