“Play until the wheels fall off”: LeBron James discusses his mindset after going 3-0 down to Nuggets

After the dust settled at the Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night, there was one team standing and that was not the home team. Nikola Jokic continued giving LeBron James a taste of his own medicine as the misery piled on the Lakers increased with a 3-0 lead for the reigning champions. With the LA franchise looking down the barrel of another play-off sweep, King James opened up about what was going through his mind.

Following the game, LeBron James sat down with the media to discuss his feelings after the 105-112 loss. When asked if the Lakers have what it takes to overcome the deficit, LBJ said, “You take this one game at a time at this point, you know, you lose, you go home. So, you come up with a mindset, let’s get one, force a game five, then we go from there.”

He further added, “As long as you still have life, then you always have belief. You play until the wheels fall off. That’s what it’s always about for me as a mindset.”

The 4-time NBA champion then went on to say he believes Anthony Davis feels the same way and seemingly separated himself and the former Pelican forward from the rest of the Lakers team.

LeBron James separates himself and Anthony Davis from rest of Lakers

The questions thrown at the duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis had the same tune in it and that is, can the Lakers turn it around? When he was again asked if the gold and purple brigade have what it takes to win play-off games, LeBron made himself crystal clear.

He said, “Me and this guy (Davis) been playing together for six years, we’ve been to the mountain tops. We know what it takes to win a championship and how damn near perfect you gotta be.”

To end the press conference, LBJ seemingly took a shot at his other teammates and said, “So I’m not a guy that you should ask that.”

Even statistically, it is evident that the 20-time All-Star and AD are doing everything in their powers to fend off the Nugs. Davis and LeBron combined for 59 points in game 3, but the rest of the starters only chipped in with 27 points. If the whole series so far is considered, LeBron is averaging 26.3 points per game while AD is averaging 32.3. The rest of the starters only combine for a meagre 10.6 PPG.

So far, the story of the series has been LeBron James and Anthony Davis vs the Nuggets, as the previous game saw the West coast team giving up a 20-point lead. If the Lakers want to avoid the back-to-back sweeps at the hands of the Denver-based franchise, let alone progress, they need to play as a unit as time is running out at a rapid pace.