WATCH: 14-Year-Old Athlete Challenges LeBron James to Three-Point Contest
The teen held his own against the three-time NBA champion
LeBron James is still getting in on some basketball action while he and the Los Angeles Lakers are watching the NBA Playoffs from home.
While his son, LeBron James Jr., was participating in a basketball tournament in Los Angeles over the weekend, the elder James was called out by 14-year-old player Gabe Cupps, who wanted to challenge the three-time NBA champion to a three-point shoot out.
In a video posted to James’ Instagram page, the two are seen matching each other shot for shot until Cupp — who is wearing a No. 23 jersey — finally misses, and the NBA star nails his three-pointer to win the challenge.
While Cupp may have lost the game, he did walk away with James’ admiration.
“I got called out by my guy and in my opinion the best shooters (he can do more too) for the Class of 2023 @gcupps23 today,” James, 34, wrote in the caption of the video. “Told him about a certain switch I can hit when needed and he didn’t believe me. Well he found out the hard way!”
“Still my guy Cupps nevertheless,” he added.
Usually, around this time of year, James would be preparing for the NBA Finals instead of hanging out at local basketball tournaments. 2019 marks the first year in nearly a decade that James isn’t competing for a championship, as he and the Lakers suffered a disastrous season that saw them plummet down the standings and fail to make the playoffs after the athlete injured his right hamstring.
But there was even more drama off the court, as NBA legend Magic Johnson abruptly stepped down from his position as Lakers president of basketball operations during a spur of the moment press conference in April — just an hour before the team’s last home game of the season.
Calling it the “right thing to do, the right move to make,” Johnson, 59, also made the shocking announcement that he hadn’t told Jeanie Buss — the team’s controlling owner, president and Johnson’s lifelong friend — or general manager Rob Pelinka of his decision at that point.
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“No one had no idea,” James later said of Johnson’s departure. “We were like, ‘Damn, like right now?’ It was literally 70 minutes on the clock before [the game]. I’m not playing, but my team is still playing, and you kind of decide to do that right here, right now.”