"A little bit of a smile," Walker said of James. That hint was good enough for the goat callers. "I got to stay focused," he said, straight-faced, after flashing a hint of a grin. James was asked about the cacophony of goat calls that filled the room. toward the end of the regular season, capping it with a 135-133 overtime win against the Utah Jazz when James had 37 points in 38 minutes, including the game-winning layup, the baaa-aaas were louder than ever in the visiting locker room at Vivint Arena. When the Lakers finished off a 4-0 road trip away from L.A. While James, when speaking on the ESPN+ digital series "More Than An Athlete" about the Cleveland Cavaliers' Finals comeback from down 3-1 against a Golden State Warriors team that won a record 73 games to win the championship, said, "That one right there made me the greatest player of all time, that's what I felt," he has been reluctant to comment on the goat calls. He could have stopped five years ago, and it's always going to be an argument, but he would arguably be the best player ever." "Championships, MVPs, always going to the Finals. "Cut it off by teams," Reaves said, referring to James' first seven seasons in Cleveland, followed by four in Miami, four more in Cleveland and now five in L.A. 1 on the all-time scoring list, with 38,652 points and counting.Īn avid golfer, Reaves said he has heard the discussion that Tiger Woods' career could be spliced into three distinct phases - when Butch Harmon was his swing coach, when Hank Haney was his swing coach, and since he left Haney - and any one of those on its own would be hall of fame worthy. James added weight to his side of the argument this season, averaging 28.9 points in his 20th year in the league, tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most All-Star appearances in NBA history with 19 and, of course, passing Abdul-Jabbar for No. We're always going to give him his flowers." So I think making the noises, like, we know he is the GOAT. "We've literally grown up playing basketball together and we used to have little arguments of who is the best player and whatnot. "A lot of us on this team really saw LeBron as one of the greatest of all time, especially growing up, you know?" Walker said. There's only one thing the group of guys, all in their mid-20s, want to communicate to the 38-year-old James. "Bron's trying to act all serious in his interviews and we're over there messing around."Īccording to a 2019 study by Luigi Baciadonna of Queen Mary University of London, goats can pick up emotional messaging from the bleats of other goats. "This year, I just felt like there's times just chemistry-wise it's been a big boost," said Austin Reaves, who regularly joins in the livestock serenade along with Gabriel, Mo Bamba, Lonnie Walker IV and D'Angelo Russell. Gabriel's goat call has attracted a herd of teammates this season who've joined him in his unique tribute to James. Gabriel smiled, realizing how ridiculous it looks for a 6-foot-9 man to be unabashedly making animal noises in front of a roomful of people, before demonstrating the sound again with perfect staccato. "And every time he would he would score or something, I'd be on the bench going, 'Baaa-aaa.'" "I mean, wasn't really playing much," Gabriel explained earlier this month in the Lakers' locker room. It was his way to express admiration for LeBron James, who is on the short list of players under consideration by the basketball world as the GOAT - the greatest of all time. Like any other new employee trying to make a good first impression - and perhaps sensing the work environment could use a little levity - Gabriel began to spend time on the bench during games bleating like a goat. 500 was better than the instability he had experienced trying to climb his way back into the league on a string of 10-day contracts after the Milwaukee Bucks waived him during training camp. Still, signing a two-way contract with a team with championship aspirations that was six games under. How the Lakers came to serenade LeBron James with goat bleatsīy the time Wenyen Gabriel joined the Los Angeles Lakers last March, the team was already a mess. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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