LeBron James takes swipe at Jim Harbaugh, Michigan following win over Suns on Friday
Nov 11, 2023, 10:46 AM

From right, J.R. Smith and Lebron James are seen on the field prior to the game between the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
Never graduate. Even if you never went to college.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James said on Friday night that his and his team’s familiarity with Phoenix Suns head coach Frank Vogel helped the offense prepare for Vogel’s defense schemes and changes down the stretch. The Lakers would go on to beat the Suns 122-119 at Footprint Center.
He went as far as to joke that they were “stealing signs,” but said the nice thing would be they’d “still be able to play on Sunday, we won’t get suspended, unlike that team up North.”
LeBron James on his familiarity with Suns coach Frank Vogel and his signals, featuring a Michigan dig. pic.twitter.com/ApSkHS7pxZ
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) November 11, 2023
This was a reference to Jim Harbaugh and Michigan, who was suspended from coaching on gameday for the remainder of the Wolverines’ final three regular-season games.
A temporary restraining order is not going to be heard in time for Michigan’s game against Penn State on Saturday, meaning Harbaugh will not coach against the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
James, an Akron, Ohio native, is a long-standing Ohio State fan. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, James is one of still a select few players to make a successful jump from high school to the NBA. The former St. Vincent-St. Mary standout once told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer that had he played a year of collegiate basketball, he would’ve done so in Columbus as a Buckeye.