When LeBron James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers last summer, there weren’t many expectations for immediate title contention. But while most weren’t expecting the team to necessarily play into June, even fewer people thought they wouldn’t be playing past April.
That’s where the Lakers find themselves, though, so instead of spending the start of spring wondering “how far can LeBron take the Lakers this postseason,” we are instead left discussing things like “Will the Space Jam 2 filming schedule affect LeBron’s availability for the 2019 FIBA World Cup?”
Still, we do have an answer to that question, because James told Joe Vardon of The Athletic that the big-budget sequel/re-imagining of the Michael Jordan original that will film over the next two summers won’t allow him to participate in the World Cup, even if that will mean missing a chance to play for Team USA and San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich:
With the Lakers’ season being so truncated — at least by LeBron’s standards; the organization has missed the postseason for six years running — there was speculation last week that he might fill some of his time by joining Team USA for the FIBA World Cup in China.