NEW YORK — Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James did what he usually does when he comes to Madison Square Garden … for the most part. There was his stretch routine outside of the visitors locker room with an hour to go before game time. His name was announced last in the starting lineup before the New York Knicks were introduced. And he performed his patented chalk toss right before the opening tip.
And, as James noted, the Lakers’ visit was on a weekend for the third year in a row.
“They find their way to make sure that I’m here on weekends, pretty much,” James said. “That’s a pretty cool treat.”
Not everything was standard about this particular trip to New York for James, though.
The Lakers lost to the Knicks 112-100, only the 10th time James has lost a road game against the Knicks in 34 competitions. This was the same day James was selected as an All-Star for the 22nd straight time, this time as a reserve instead of a starter. There were cheers for James this time, a long way from when he declared himself “👑 of New York” in 2017 while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, or when he spurned the Knicks for the Miami Heat in 2010. And though the 41-year-old James is in his NBA-record 23rd season, he does not have a contract for 2026-27.
“S—, I’ve been pretty good,” James said after scoring 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field in 35 minutes. “Didn’t I just pass like 60,000 minutes, s— like that? I’d hope I look pretty good!”
James is playing at a high level and playing a lot. But he won’t commit to playing next season. So, naturally, he had to field questions about how he felt about Madison Square Garden, a place where he had two of his 14 career 50-point games (coached by current Knicks coach Mike Brown, no less, while Brown and James were in Cleveland).
“Everything,” James said when asked about what playing at New York’s home arena has meant throughout his career. “It’s the mecca of basketball here in New York City. Obviously, it’s the Big Apple, you know. Being here at MSG, playing here, so many guys have walked this court. You know, either from basketball to entertainment, to actors and musicians — I mean, everything. It’s been a wide range of importance of people to be able to grace this floor. And I hope I have a little small snippet of like, somebody that came through here and was able to make a little small dent from a business perspective.”
The question remains for James, who is averaging 33.1 minutes and 21.9 points (50.5 percent field goals, 5.5 free-throw attempts) to go with 5.8 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.5 3s per game: why hang it up, barring health and a team that wants him, and be content with never playing another game at The World’s Most Famous Arena?
“At the end of the day, everything has to come to an end at some point,” James said. “So, no matter when it is, it’s gonna be like, ‘S—, I’ll never play again in Madison Square Garden. I’ll never play again in certain arenas. I’ll never play again, period.’ So, I mean, at that point, it doesn’t matter. You’re gonna always miss it. You’re going to miss the game in general. So, this one will always have a special place in the journey because it is Madison Square Garden. But yeah, when that time comes? Yeah, for sure.”