The Los Angeles Lakers clearly are in a funk, having compiled a 3–10 record since winning the inaugural NBA in-season tournament last month.

The Lakers’ latest setback, a 127–113 defeat to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena, is the team’s fourth consecutive loss, and superstar forward LeBron James bluntly summed up the state of the team afterward.

“We just suck right now,” a solemn James told reporters.

Against that backdrop of frustration, one reporter threw James a curveball and asked him about the recent retirement of veteran Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio. The question seemingly came from out of nowhere, and James certainly could be forgiven if he didn’t want to answer it after another bitter loss.

Instead, James answered the query with aplomb, and the result was all class from the league’s all-time scoring leader.

“I’m not really in the mood to answer that question, but I respect Ricky,” James said. “Congratulations on a hell of a career, and if I don’t seem sincere when you see this video, it’s because we got our a– whooped again, and I apologize. It’s was actually bad timing on the interviewer asking me this question.”

You can see James’s earnest response to the random question at the 2:30 mark in the clip below.

LeBron James: “We suck right now.” He also framed LAL’s in-season tournament as “only two games,” suggesting that championship should be given the proper weight pic.twitter.com/a1IaENpWyh

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 6, 2024

Credit to James for deftly handling his media obligations after a disappointing loss. He saluted a longtime rival with grace and humorously tweaked the reporter at the same time.

Rubio announced his retirement Wednesday, capping a 12-season NBA career with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers, in which he averaged 10.8 points, 7.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game.