LeBron James hurried to the home team locker room after the Los Angeles Lakers’ win against the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night so he could watch his son, Bronny James, and the USC Trojans on TV vs. the Arizona Wildcats.
Later during his postgame interview surrounded by a flock of media members, the four-time MVP was clearly distracted by the Trojans-Wildcats contest, finding himself apologizing multiple times to reporters for not giving his undivided attention.
The elder James finished the Lakers’ 127-110 victory with 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists on 10-for-19 shooting (3-for-7 on three-pointers) as Los Angeles won their second game in a row and fourth in their last six contests. James and company are back at the .500 mark (21-21) just past the halfway point of the regular season.
Following the win against the New Orleans Pelicans in the In-Season Tournament semifinals on Dec. 7, the Lakers were a season-best five games above .500 at 14-9. They’ve gone just 7-12 since, including a pair of four-game losing streaks between Dec. 15 and Jan. 5.
USC fell to Arizona on Wednesday, 82-67, for their third straight defeat. The 19-year-old James is a freshman guard for the Pac-12 team (8-10) and is averaging 5.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game with a .368/.233/.643 shooting line across 10 contests (two starts).