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dave mcmenamin
multiple authors
Lebron James Another milestone in his illustrious career with The Saturdays 129-101 overcome Golden State Warriors.
The first father-daughter road trip in their 23 years in the league.
“Good win, good win,” James said as he walked off the court and through the Chase Center tunnel holding the hand of his 11-year-old daughter, Zuri. “Good luck right here, 1-0.”
Before Saturday’s game, LA was coming off three consecutive losing games, and all three were painful in their own ways. The first loss was a 111-89 loss to the rival boston celtics; Then there was a failed final game versus orlando magic; And finally, a missed shot at the last second against an underman phoenix sun team after the Lakers took a double-digit lead.
The atmosphere was different Saturday, when the Lakers sang “Happy Birthday” luka doncic at the team hotel and were presented with a cake in the shape of a basketball jersey – with half the icing representing LA’s colors and the other half representing the Slovenian national team.
And then on the field, they had a new player on the court pregame, with Zhuri practicing dribbling with her dad and even throwing him a lob for a dunk.
“I miss a lot of time with my kids because of my career,” said James, who has three children, including Bronny, 21, and Bryce, 18, with wife Savannah.
“During my career, whenever I get a few moments together with her, alone, with two, with three, whatever the case may be – it’s always special for me. So my daughter wants to come on the road and be with me. [is special]”
James said he and Zuri spent Friday posing as tourists in San Francisco, visiting Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge and having dinner together.
“It’s definitely mellowed me out over the last 11 years,” James said of being a father to a girl. “I had two boys in the beginning, but had a little girl 11 years ago, man, it’s definitely softened me. So to have her is special. You know, it’s a different kind of love. If someone’s got girls and boys, it’s a different kind of love that you want [share]. It’s tough love when it comes to my boys. I yell at them and do anything. They take it. They know how to deal with it. This is different. This is a little leniency with my daughter. So that’s great.”
While Xuri showed some dribbling skills and even hit a trick shot behind her back from the foul line, James said she would not pursue the family business.
This is Juri James Trickshot 🤯
And then lob his father! ❤️
Lakers/Warriors • Next on ABC pic.twitter.com/BL59syr9DE
– NBA (@NBA) 1 March 2026
“She’s a volleyball player,” he said. “Don’t make my wife angry. My wife is over this basketball game. She’s a volleyball player. But she’s been in the game for a while, so she’s got a good handle on it. She’s got a good game [shooting] as also. But my wife is not playing that. no else. That’s all he said. That’s it.”
The question now is how many more road games can Zhuri make, especially if his presence will inspire L.A. to play like it did against the Warriors.
“She’s going to Denver,” quipped austin reeves In the locker room, referring to the Lakers’ next road game on Thursday denver nuggets.
James said: “Don’t say that out loud, because she’ll definitely say, ‘Dad, can I go to Denver?’
“He already said, ‘When’s the next road trip?'”
