LeBron James thanked RJ Barrett for giving him extra rest and time to golf

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HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 01: <a class= — HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 01: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets in Game Six of the First Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Toyota Center on May 01, 2026 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Jacob Rude

Sun, May 3, 2026 at 12:06 AM UTC ·

3 min read

As the Lakers were beginning their beatdown of the Rockets in Game 6 on Friday, the Raptors were helping them in a very dramatic way.

In the final seconds of overtime in Toronto , RJ Barrett channeled his inner Tyrese Haliburton and connected on a three to force a Game 7 against the Cavaliers.

For a variety of reasons likely involving broadcasting rights and money, the start date of the Lakers-Thunder series was tied to whether Saturday’s two Eastern Conference series. If only one of them ended, then LA and Oklahoma City would play on Sunday.

However, if both of them ended or both of them went seven games, then the purple and gold would be off until Tuesday.

With those stakes in mind and given what played out in Houston with the Lakers routing the Rockets, Barrett’s incredible game-winning shot carried a bit of extra weight. Instead of LA being one of the two Sunday games, there will instead be two Game 7s while LA will get a couple of days of rest .

And for that, LeBron James was thankful.

Now, you might wonder, what would LeBron do with that extra rest? Is it watch more game film? Sit back and enjoy Game 7? Well, if you’ve been paying attention to him this year, there was an obvious answer when he was asked if the extra rest helped him.

“For me? Yeah,” LeBron said. “We don’t play until Tuesday now. Yeah. Hell yeah. I can go on the golf course now. That’s what I’m thinking about.”

I wish a time machine existed and we could go back and tell 2016 LeBron that he would be excited about getting an extra day between rounds of the playoffs to golf 18 holes. It’s definitely a different mindset than he had when he was younger and focused on repeated trips to the Finals.

However, given how he played against the Rockets over the course of the series, and particularly in the closeout Game 6 , it’s hard to be too upset with him. Let him go golf and then get locked back in on the Thunder.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social .