As the wife of arguably the greatest basketball player who ever lived, Savannah James is used to people criticizing her husband — but she’s still willing to call them out.
As LeBron James searches for a new team to play with next season, Savannah, 39, called his haters “crazy” in a conversation with co-host April McDaniel on the Tuesday, July 7, episode of their “Everybody’s Crazy” podcast.
The two were discussing the positivity in their podcast community and acknowledging that it is not the norm, when McDaniel said, “I think people build up things to crush them.”
“You think that? That is a fact,” Savannah responded.
“I feel like that’s the hard part with LeBron,” McDaniel continued. “Being such an icon, how negative people can be. I’m like, ‘Can y’all get a life?’”
“It’s crazy,” Savannah said.
She then added, “People have definitely made careers out of talking about [LeBron]. Like… [critics having] a subjective opinion about what everybody thinks is the best thing. But to be on the other side of it, it’s like, ‘No, it’s not.’ They make careers out of that.”
LeBron, 41, already has four NBA championships to his name as well as four MVP awards, 22 All-Star appearances and three Olympic gold medals. He was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers from 2018 to 2026, winning the 2020 NBA championship with the franchise.
He announced his intention to leave the Lakers on June 30, just before NBA free agency opened.
“LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in history,” the Lakers wrote in a statement shared via social media that day. “We will always be thankful for his eight years with the Lakers — including the title he led us to in 2020 under the toughest imaginable circumstances and the countless records he broke in purple and gold. We wish him all the best in the future, both on the court and off. He will always be a cherished part of the Lakers family.”
LeBron quoted the post on X, thanking the Lakers for the past eight seasons.
“No, THANK YOU!” he wrote. “Truly a honor to wear the 💜💛 while trying to continuing the greatness & legacies that came before me! Hope I made a few proud during my stint. 🙏🏾🫡👑.”
At LeBron’s age, it’s only logical that the talk of retirement would follow him wherever he decides to go. He was asked about the possibility after the Lakers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, where he said it would depend on whether he could still commit to giving 100 percent.
“I think for me it’s about the process,” he said. “If I can commit to still being in love with the process of showing up to the arena five-and-a-half hours before a game to start preparing for a game, giving everything I got, diving for loose balls and doing everything that you know that it takes to go out and play.”
