LeBron thanks teammates for criticizing 'reckless' 1st-half play
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James fell one rebound short of a triple-double in Friday's 113-110 win over the Miami Heat.
However, the first thing that came to mind postgame was his "reckless" first-half play and the four-time MVP credited his teammates for being critical of him.
"My teammates got on my ass," James told ESPN's Israel Gutierrez. "They told me you're playing too passive, you're thinking about the game way too much instead of just reading and reacting and doing what you do ... (Davis) got on me, Boogie Cousins got on me, and they told me just be me.
"So I was like, 'Thank God we got two halves in a basketball game,' where I can flush the first one, and then try to come back and help us win."
James bounced back in the second half, turning the ball over just once as opposed to seven in the game's first 24 minutes. He scored 17 of his 28 total points in the final two frames while also posting nine assists and a game-high plus-15 rating.
James' willingness to take advice from others wasn't lost on his teammates, including Anthony Davis.
"We all have respect for each other and have the confidence to go up to whoever and try to get them going," Davis told reporters postgame, including ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "The fact that he listens and everybody on the team accepts constructive criticism from our guys is what makes us so good."
Los Angeles (23-3) handed Miami its first home loss of the season and are tied with the Milwaukee Bucks for the league's best record.