LeBron James won't turn off phone during NBA restart

Orlando, July 29: Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James said he will not be turning off his phone during the NBA postseason amid the coronavirus pandemic.

James usually imposes a social-media blackout for the playoffs – the three-time champion staying away from Twitter and Instagram between April and June in his quest for NBA glory.

But the COVID-19 crisis has changed those plans, James determined to stay in contact with his family while he and the Lakers are based in the Orlando bubble for the league's restart.

The NBA has been postponed since March due to coronavirus, but the 2019-20 season will resume on Thursday (July 30), with the Lakers facing rivals the Los Angeles Clippers at Walt Disney Resort.

"It's definitely going to have a different mindset, different feel to it," James said on a video conference call on Tuesday.

"I won't be turning my phone off during this run. I can't afford to. I have to continue to check in with my family every single day."

In his first #LakeShow production, @LakerFilmRoom presents:

The King and his Freshness, connected by instincts. pic.twitter.com/z7HAsh9N8Y

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James, who was averaging 25.7 points, 10.6 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game for the Western Conference-leading Lakers prior to the postponement, added: "Making sure everything is still going well, especially in the uncertainty of what 2020 has brought to all of us. So I can't afford to do that, just lose direct contact with everybody."

"The communication can always be consistent and the leadership can always be consistent, and that's one thing I've always had control over," the four-time MVP and 35-year-old continued.

"But you can't replicate actual presence when you're waking up and you're in the living room or you're in the kitchen, or you're outside playing with your kids or playing with your daughter, playing video games with your boys or working out with your boys. You can't replicate that. I'm not there.

"But [wife] Savannah is a beast at what she does: That's controlling the home and being that rock for our family. So I'm not worried about that. But you definitely, you have that miss factor when you miss your family, you miss your kids and things of that nature.

"But I thank Steve Jobs a lot and the team at Apple for having FaceTime, because that is a beautiful thing to have, especially during a time like this."