LeBron James on Anthony Davis tampering rumors: ‘I play by the rules’

LeBron James told ESPN on Wednesday that it’d “be amazing” if the Lakers could land Anthony Davis. “Like, duh. That would be incredible,” he said.

That spun a whole news cycle of Davis trade rumors, and upset small market general managers who thought LeBron was tampering. (The league ruled he wasn’t.)

After his team’s win over Davis’ Pelicans, James had an incredible response to all of the chaos he created in the media:

James: Ask me would I like to play with Kevin Durant?

Reporter: Would you like to play with Kevin Durant?

James: Absolutely. Ask me would I like to play with Jimmy Butler. Ask me about Kyrie Irving Giannis. Ask me about [Joel] Embiid. Ben Simmons. All of them. Luka Doncic. Ask me right now. Come on guys, it’s not rocket science. These are great players, absolutely. I would like to play with great players because that’s who I am.

People get caught up in bunches, sometimes when they wish you can control what they say, but they can’t control me at all. And I play by the rules.

James is used to his words being taken out of context, so he was calm and prepared to respond to the questions about Davis.

His point here was that he wants to ... wait for it ... play with other good players! It’s unclear when, but eventually the Lakers will make a play for another superstar, and LeBron is ready for that. James is staying patient, merely noting that yes, trading for AD is cool by him.

His last part of the interview was the most interesting an likely in response to the tampering rumors. “Sometimes, when they wish you can control what they say, but they can’t control me at all,” James said. “And I play by the rules.”

Frankly, he’s showing off the power he has. What he said was teetering on what’s considered cool or not by league rule, but he’s been given the benefit of the doubt. We assume these type of recruiting conversations happen behind closed doors. Now, LeBron’s proven he can have them in the open.