LeBron James says he misses basketball and Lakers fans, laments that team was just hitting their stride

One of the few benefits of the NBA being suspended is that LeBron James will get some much-needed rest before leading the Lakers in the playoffs — assuming the season will continue at some point this year, of course. However, James doesn’t seem to be enjoying his “staycation” at all.

During an Instagram Live Q&A on Thursday, James said that while he’s enjoyed spending time with his family, he’s disappointed that he’s not doing what he usually does in March, which is play basketball with his teammates:

“Am I enjoying the break? No. No. I miss playing ball. I miss doing what I do. I miss being in front the Laker faithful, I miss being in front of the opposing fans when I’m on the road. You know, we was at a point in the season where we were hitting our stride, you know, gearing up towards the playoffs, but the good thing about is that I’m getting a lot of family time. Time that I would never be able to get at this point in the season. But I love what I do, man. Everything is in place when we’re all doing what we gotta do.”

That’s probably the hardest thing about all of this: the unexpected factor.

Not having NBA basketball to watch from July to September is hard, but we know that it’s going to happen around the same time every year, and there are things that fill the gaps like the draft, free agency, summer league and — when necessary — baseball. This break, though, isn’t one that anyone was anticipating, even if we probably should have been. The fact that the break came at a time where the Lakers were playing their best basketball in almost 10 years has only made things harder to cope with.

The good news is that we have some control over if and when the NBA will return with how seriously we take the challenge of self-quarantining. If everyone does their part to “flatten the curve,” the likelihood of James and Anthony Davis taking the court again by the summer will raise substantially.

The King is doing it — you can too.

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