LeBron James’ Message to Fans: ‘Stay With Us. Just Stay With Us’

After taking part in Rudy Gay’s charity hoops game last night in Memphis, LBJ addressed the fans in attendance, asking them to remain patient with the NBA’s labor standoff. From the Commercial Appeal: “When the two-hour all-star showcase ended, Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay grabbed a microphone and thanked the fans for showing up. The biggest star in the building, LeBron James, then delivered a message to NBA-starved fans who didn’t attend Gay’s charity exhibition game Tuesday night at the DeSoto Civic Center. ‘Stay with us. Just stay with us,’ James said. ‘We play the game of basketball because of (the fans). This is how we do it when the cameras aren’t around. We wanted to let them know that we love to play the game. We want to let the fans know that without them, there’s no us. We’re going to try to continue to showcase whenever we can.’ Until the NBA and its players agree on a new collective bargaining agreement, exhibition games will have to do. More than 5,000 fans — many of whom yelled for autographs and flashed cellphone cameras — certainly enjoyed the taste of NBA basketball. Gay’s 45 points led all scorers but his ‘white’ team suffered a 158-151 loss to the ‘blue’ team led by James and his 43 points.”