When Daryl Morey tweeted and then deleted support for protesters in Hong Kong and the NBA received criticism from the country of China, the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets coincidentally soon arrived  in Shanghai for an exhibition game.

LeBron James was leaned upon as a guiding voice on how to respond. James believed it didn't make sense for the players to speak to the nearly 200 reporters assembled in the hotel lobby when Morey and Adam Silver had yet to address the media.

"What he was most vocal about was," a source familiar with the meeting told ESPN, "'How can you ask us to do media when you yourselves are not?'"

Events and promotional appearances were canceled, as were team practices and media sessions.

"It was interesting," a team source said. "They were in a bubble. They started the season in a bubble, and they're going to end it in a bubble."

Anthony Davis said that he plans to play against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday despite injuring his eye during a scrimmage last week.

Davis was inadvertently poked in the eye by Michael Carter-Williams. 

"I'll get evaluated again tonight by one of the doctors here and kind of get an update from them. That's the plan, for me to play," said Davis after participating in practice on Wednesday with protective eyewear.

Davis said that he didn't think he would need to wear protective eyewear against the Clippers, but wanted to give them a test run before the game. 

LeBron James won't have a self-imposed social media blackout for the playoffs.

"It's definitely going to have a different mindset, different feel to it," James said on a video conference call when asked about his approach to the Lakers' upcoming challenge. "I won't be turning my phone off during this run. I can't afford to. I have to continue to check in with my family every single day."

James typically curtails the time he spends on Twitter and Instagram in April through June.

James specifically cited his mom as someone he will "check in" with.

"Making sure everything is still going well, especially in the uncertainty of what 2020 has brought to all of us," he said. "So I can't afford to do that, just lose direct contact with everybody."

James said with virtual parenting, "There's nothing that you can do to replicate time, presence," but the phone does help in staying connected.

"The communication can always be consistent and the leadership can always be consistent, and that's one thing I've always had control over," he said. "But you can't replicate actual presence when you're waking up and you're in the living room or you're in the kitchen, or you're outside playing with your kids or playing with your daughter, playing video games with your boys or working out with your boys. You can't replicate that. I'm not there.

"But Savannah is a beast at what she does: That's controlling the home and being that rock for our family. So I'm not worried about that. But you definitely, you have that miss factor when you miss your family, you miss your kids and things of that nature. But I thank Steve Jobs a lot and the team at Apple for having FaceTime, because that is a beautiful thing to have, especially during a time like this."

Anthony Davis could miss Thursday's game due to his injured right eye.

Davis was poked in the right eye by Michael Carter-Williams during Saturday's scrimmage. 

"He's day-to-day and while he's still dealing with discomfort, there is some concern that he could potentially not play Thursday," Frank Vogel said on a video conference. "But we're hopeful that he does, and we'll see how that plays out. He's going to continue to be evaluated each day."

The Lakers will have to update Davis' status on Wednesday, according to league rules.

The Los Angeles Lakers remain a family-run company and don't have the type of wealth from outside the franchise that some other owners enjoy.

But sources say the Lakers won't have any issues in re-signing Anthony Davis due to their $200 million annual television deal. The Lakers could bring in $300 million in revenue when their share of the national television deal is included without selling a single ticket.

The Lakers do have billionaire minority owners in Philip Anschutz and Patrick Soon-Shiong.

The Lakers also applied for the Paycheck Protection Program, but they later returned the $4.6 million they were granted.

Markieff Morris is on his way to Orlando to join the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA's restart.

Morris joined the Lakers after he was waived by the Detroit Pistons.

Morris' brother, Marcus Morris, joined the Los Angeles Clippers at practice for the first time on Tuesday.

A 2003-04 LeBron James Upper Deck rookie card went for $1.845 million at an auction on Sunday.

The card was sold to Lob.com CEO Leore Avidar.

The price set a record for a modern-day card, and is the most expensive basketball card ever purchased.

"If we were talking about a T206 [Honus] Wagner, or a 1952 [Mickey] Mantle, it probably wouldn't be that much news. But when you're talking about a card that was literally produced 17 years ago and is for a guy still playing in the NBA, it's just shocking news to a lot of people. It's really where my particular industry has been going for several years," said Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions.

Only 23 versions of the Patch Autograph Parallel collection for James were ever produced. The card received a 9.5 mint gem grading from Beckett.

Frank Vogel backed LeBron James to win the MVP this year, with Anthony Davis getting awarded the Defensive Player of the Year.

Vogel specifically brought up games against the Clippers and Bucks as to why James deserved to win MVP.

"In that weekend, LeBron took the toughest assignment in both games. He guarded Kawhi in the Clippers game and did a great job with him there. And then he guarded Giannis in the Bucks game when AD was in foul trouble and did a great job in those two situations. I think that weekend was probably a great indicator or a great measuring stick," said Vogel.

Vogel also pointed to the Lakers defense as to why both players should be recognized.

"We're the third best defense in the NBA, best in the West and a lot of that comes from [James'] commitment this season, which has been greater than the last few years from what I'm told, has really set us apart. Like I said, I'm hopeful that those two awards go to those two players."

Voting for all individual awards will take place before the Orlando restart. 

Dwight Howard has been disciplined for not wearing a mask while on the NBA's campus.

Howard claims he was reported to the NBA Campus Hotline.

"Somebody told on me," Howard said Wednesday in an Instagram Live post, broadcast to his 2.7 million followers.

"[My] reaction is that we all should be wearing masks in and around the hotel lobby," Frank Vogel said. "And the areas that we're being asked to wear a mask, we should wear a mask. And he's doing so now."

Frank Vogel said that he expects Rajon Rondo to return to the Los Angeles Lakers sometime during the playoffs. 

"What we have to understand about Rajon, losing Rajon is a huge loss for our team, but we expect Rajon to be a part of our playoff run," said Vogel.

Rondo was ruled out 6-8 weeks with a broken thumb.

Vogel added that the timeline places Rondo to return around the first or second round of the playoffs.

Rondo will leave Orlando to undergo surgery and begin rehab.