LeBron James Tells Lakers Teammates to Avoid Social Media, TV During NBA Playoffs

Now two wins away from the Western Conference Finals, LeBron James offered a piece of advice to his fellow Los Angeles Lakers teammates.

Speaking to reporters after Saturday's 127-97 win over the Golden State Warriors, James said he likes to tell younger players to "stay off the TV and stay off social media" between games.

"You win a game, everyone is the best player in the world. You lose a game, everybody is throwing dirt on you," he added.

If you're looking for evidence of how quickly playoff narratives can change, look at what has been said about Anthony Davis over these first three games against the Warriors. He had a historic performance in Game 1 with 30 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in 44 minutes of a 117-112 win.

After the Lakers' 127-100 loss in Game 2, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said Davis was "straight garbage," and First Take questioned if the Lakers were done in the series.

The narrative after Game 3 will almost certainly swing back in Davis' favor. He had 25 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and three steals and was a force on defense in helping limit the Warriors to 39.6 percent shooting from the field.

Most of the Lakers roster had playoff experience coming into this season, though not a lot in some cases. Rui Hachimura appeared in one series for the Washington Wizards in 2021. Jarred Vanderbilt played nine postseason games with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets.

Austin Reaves is the most prominent player on the roster who had no playoff experience before this season. He might be feeling the increased pressure on this stage after scoring 10 points on just 2-of-8 shooting on Saturday night.

James and Anthony Davis are the only remaining players on the Lakers from the 2019-20 championship team. There might be no current athlete in professional sports who understands the pitfalls of social media narratives better than James.

It's unclear if the Lakers players are taking James' advice, but their success in these playoffs shows something is definitely working. Saturday marked the second time they have won by at least 30 points this postseason.

James and the Lakers will look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead when they host the Warriors in Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena on Monday at 10 p.m. ET.