LeBron James took aim at the University of Michigan after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 122-119 win in the NBA intraseason tournament on Friday.
James scored 32 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists against the Suns. Phoenix head coach Frank Vogel played for the Lakers from 2019-22, including three seasons with James.
After the game, James was happy with Vogel and the Wolverines’ sacrifice. Two guns combined into one.
“We have some history with Coach Frank,” James said. “We were able to have that blueprint and be able to steal some signals. That was the key to our success. The best thing tonight was we were able to get those signals and we were still able to compete on Sunday. We weren’t going to be like Team Up North Getting suspended like that.”
“We’re not going to get suspended like that team up north.”
LeBron says Lakers stole Frank Vogel’s signals, but jokes they can still play like Michigan 😂 pic.twitter.com/kjGbzWgHjw
— Sports News (@sportsnews) November 11, 2023
Of course, James is a well-known supporter of Ohio State athletics, and this was an obvious jab at Michigan State coach Jim Harbaugh, who won’t coach Saturday’s game against Penn State.
The Big Ten ruled that Harbaugh will be banned from playing in Michigan’s final three games, including a competitive matchup with No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 25. That’s the result of a live scouting and sign-stealing scandal involving Michigan staffer Connor Stallions — who was suspended with pay from the University of Michigan on Oct. 20.
James also hinted that sign stealing is common in NBA games. Went to work on Friday night. Led by first-year coach Darvin Ham, the Lakers fought back from an eight-point halftime deficit to improve to 4-5 on the season. The Suns went 4-5 under Vogel, his first season with the team.
Vogel and James won the NBA championship with the Lakers in the 2019-20 season.