LeBron James has a message for Anthony Edwards after the Minnesota Timberwolves star took a playful shot at him in an Adidas commercial: keep the jokes coming.
James addressed the advertisement on the latest episode of his Mind the Game podcast, where he spoke with co-host Steve Nash about Edwards’ jokes targeting veteran NBA players who change teams during the offseason.
The commercial features Edwards playing the host of a fictional talk show, where he pokes fun at fellow players through a series of basketball-related jokes. One particularly pointed moment targets James over his age, his knees and the possibility of joining the Timberwolves.
“Speaking of old school, you see where Big Dog ended up? He was going to join me in Minnesota, but I guess his knees couldn’t handle the cold weather. It’s cool, though,” Edwards says in the advertisement.
He then adds a joke suggesting James chose Philadelphia because of its barbers.
“We know why he really made that decision. Philly got some of the best barbers in the world,” Edwards says.
James, however, made it clear that he had not actually watched the commercial when the subject came up on his podcast.
“First of all, I didn’t watch the spot, because I don’t watch anything from the stripes. Nothing. Love Ant to death, but I don’t watch s–t from the stripes, I just don’t,” James said.
He then offered his own interpretation of the joke, poking a hole in the cold-weather punchline by pointing out that Philadelphia is also a city with cold winters.
“But then I was like, ‘But I went to Philly, Ant, so how are my knees gonna be warm in Philly?’” James said.
The Los Angeles Lakers star also suggested Edwards was simply delivering the advertisement’s scripted material, adding, “He just read off the teleprompter.”
Despite the teasing, James did not appear bothered by the attention. When Nash suggested Edwards had the personality to take shots at him, James welcomed the challenge.
“Bring them at me. Bring them at me. I’m used to it,” he said.
The exchange adds another lighthearted moment to the relationship between two of the NBA’s biggest names. Edwards has built a reputation for his confident personality and willingness to joke about fellow players, while James has spent more than two decades at the center of basketball debates and public scrutiny.
For Edwards, the commercial provides a chance to bring his on-court persona into a marketing campaign. For James, the response suggests he is comfortable being the target of a joke, even when it comes from one of the league’s younger stars.
With the 2026–27 NBA season approaching, the exchange gives fans another talking point beyond the usual competition on the court. Whether Edwards has more jokes lined up remains to be seen, but James has already made his position clear: he can take the heat.
