“It’s about the culture of basketball.”
This is what LeBron James insisted regarding his comments when asked about the “face of the NBA’ conversations.
James discussed his point after sympathizing with Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards, who dismissed himself as a potential future face of the league during the NBA All-Star Weekend.
“I feel Ant. I completely understand. There’s this weird energy when it comes to that,” the Lakers star said.
"Channing Frye said it... why do you want to be the face of a league when all the people that cover our game and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis s*** on everybody?" James said. "When you have that responsibility, that's just weird."
LeBron on Anthony Edwards’ statement at All-Star that he isn’t striving to become the face of the NBA: “Channing Frye said it … ‘Why do you want to be the face of the league when all the people that cover our game and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis s— on everybody?’”
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 28, 2025
Furthermore, the ‘King’ was always aware of the responsibility of being the face of the NBA.
“I’ve always taken that seriously and understood from the beginning what being a professional was all about and what being a role model was all about. So try to hold that with the utmost respect and honor.”
Not to be outdone, the four-time champion doubled down on his stance in a long post on X (formerly known as Twitter) while making it clear that one should instead view basketball as a ‘celebrated culture’ in general.
“It ain’t about ‘face of the game' and it ain't about one person or one show, it's about the culture of basketball, the most beautiful game in the world," James wote in a tweet.
"Steph Curry should be all we are talking about today. Let’s discuss how great OKC and The Cavs have been this season with 2 completely different styles and break down why and how they have. Of course if players don’t perform we need to discuss that too and break that down."
Exactly made my point but anyways. Happy this convo has started. It ain’t about ‘face of the game” and it ain't about one person or one show, it's about the culture of basketball,, the most beautiful game in the world. Our game has never been better. Incredible young stars from…
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 1, 2025
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer also shared his thoughts on player criticisms and explained how constant negativity has dragged the game down.
“Of course, if players don’t perform we need to discuss that too and break that down. Even that can be discussed in a way that’s not to bring finality to that player's game but to leave room to see how that player responds and let’s watch the journey of that player," the four-time Finals MVP said.
He added: "This ain’t about me either. At this point I don't really care what’s said about me, it’s always something. This is about the impact the negativity is having on our beautiful game and our fans. I know I speak for a lot of players and more importantly, a helluva lot of great fans that truly love and celebrate this sport around the world."
This ain’t about me either. At this point i dont really care what’s said about me it’s always something. This is about the impact the negativity is having on our beautiful game and our fans. I know I speak for a lot of players and more importantly, a helluva lot of great fans…
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 1, 2025
While there’s no denying that the end is near for James, several young stars in Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama are rising to the occasion to carry the torch moving forward.
But into his 22nd season, James is showing no signs of slowing down even at the age of 40 with avengers of 24.9 points, eight rebounds and 8.7 assists in 54 games this season.
