LeBron James may have been notably absent from Luka Dončić’s press conference or celebration on Saturday, but he still congratulated the Lakers new superstar.
While LeBron James is quickly losing his grasp as the center point of the Lakers, so much of what he does and doesn’t do still drives so many talking points.
To that point, his absence on Saturday as the Lakers announced Luka Dončić’s extension before celebrating in Las Vegas at a Backstreet Boys concert was noticeable.
However, before getting up and arms about LeBron and the Lakers engaging in some sort of cold war, he didn’t completely ignore everything that took place on Saturday. During the morning on Saturday, LeBron reached out to Luka via phone call to congratulate him on the new extension, according to longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein.
LeBron and son Bronny James were noticeably not in attendance at the news conference, but I’m told that LeBron FaceTimed Dončić on Saturday morning to congratulate him on the new deal.
Really, there could be few things funnier than seeing 40-year-old LeBron James at a Backstreet Boys. I meant, he definitely grew up in the right time period, but I’m not sure that’s quite his jam.
LeBron wasn’t alone in not being present at the press conference and/or concert on Saturday. The most notable alongside him was Austin Reaves, though he has a pretty valid excuse, as he is touring Asia on a promotional sneaker tour with Rigorer.
Should this matter? Eh. If LeBron is going to be such a public-facing person — and that’s a perfectly fine decision to make — then his absence is going to be noticeable, too. He can choose to handle that however he wishes, but people will be aware when he’s not around.
It is a double-edged sword, though, where if he does too much publicly, people will criticize him as well. Privately calling him to offer congratulations feels like a perfectly fine solution and one that I’m sure Luka appreciated.
Now, surely, that’ll be the last we hear of LeBron this offseason, right?
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.