SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Zhuri James stood with her back to the basket at the free-throw line and heaved an over-the-head shot that banked in after several previous attempts.
A little coaching and love from her superstar dad did the trick. LeBron James’ 11-year-old daughter held a shooting session of her own at Chase Center on Saturday night after he concluded his own warmup routine ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 129-101 win against the Golden State Warriors.
“I don’t know,” she said of what the trick was to finally make the backward free throw, “I tried to make sure I was in front of the basket.”
She also dribbled on the baseline as he dribbled and James caught a glimpse and gave her a smile, then Zhuri came out on the court for some shots from different spots around the key.
Zhuri — a talented volleyball player — said she had fun with the opportunity, not something she gets to do at road games because she hasn’t traveled before.
“She’s a good-luck charm,” James said. “First road trip in my career that she’s been on besides All-Star Weekend and stuff like that.”
At Lakers home games, she notes she goes on the court “sometimes but not a lot.”
“She’s a volleyball player but she’s been around the game for a while so she does have a good handle, she’s got good form, too,” James said.
Before the 41-year-old James headed into the locker room to finish getting ready to face the Warriors, who were without injured rival Stephen Curry for a 10th straight game, Zhuri threw him an alley-oop and he slammed it home. They shared a sweet handshake and he told her “love you” before going inside.
Then he found his rhythm immediately come tipoff, making 7 of 10 shots and all four of his 3-point tries in the first half to go with four assists and four rebounds as the Lakers led 65-47 at the break. James finished with 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
He said afterward there have been many times he has missed family moments during his 23-year playing career, so this meant a lot — and they even went to Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge on Friday.
“Over the course of my career any time I got moments with them either individually, two of them, three of them all together, whatever the case may be, it’s always special for me,” he told reporters in the locker room. “And my daughter wants to come on the road and be with me. … We spent a lot of time, it was pretty cool. It was awesome.”
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