LeBron James made a forceful statement on Twitter in response to the possibility of the NBA canceling the remainder of the 19-20 season.

"Saw some reports about execs and agents wanting to cancel season???" wrote James. "That’s absolutely not true. Nobody I know saying anything like that. As soon as it’s safe we would like to finish our season. I’m ready and our team is ready. Nobody should be canceling anything."

James was responding to a report from CNBC about team executive and agents who expressed concern about whether there will be liability issues if the season resumes.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been in communication with the Los Angeles mayor's office to discuss the possibility of reopening their practice facility before the current shelter-at-home order in the city expires on May 15th.

The NBA will allow players to return to team facilities for voluntary workouts on May 8th.

The Lakers have not made recommendations to any of the handful of players who are out of town as to when they should return to Los Angeles.

Players will be scheduled in groups of up to four -- each getting their own half court -- for 90-minute workout periods. The workouts will be aimed at individualized skill work and conditioning.

The Los Angeles Lakers have returned approximately $4.6 million that they received from a federal government program intended to help small businesses.

The Lakers applied for relief through the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program. As a business with approximately 300 employees, the Lakers were eligible for a PPP loan, which is forgivable so long as the recipient spends 75% of the amount on payroll and doesn't fire anyone. The Lakers were estimated to be worth more than $4 billion before COVID-19.

"The Lakers qualified for and received a loan under the Payroll Protection Program," the Lakers said in a statement to ESPN. "Once we found out the funds from the program had been depleted, we repaid the loan so that financial support would be directed to those most in need. The Lakers remain completely committed to supporting both our employees and our community."

The PPP ran out of money after less than two weeks. The Lakers have the capacity to borrow at favorable rates as one of the NBA's most valuable franchise. 

Kobe Bryant embedded a documentary film crew with the Los Angeles Lakers for his final season in 15-16, similar to the one that followed the Chicago Bulls in 97-98.

"They had unprecedented and, by far, greater access than anyone else ever," said John Black, who led the Lakers' public relations department for 27 years, last serving as vice president. "We certainly allowed them to do everything we could within what the league would allow, and sometimes, with a wink and look-the-other-way, allowed them even more."

The footage from Bryant's season has been in the editing stages for a potential documentary to be released years from now, according to sources. Bryant had seen the edited material and provided feedback in the months leading up to his death in January.

Bryant had sought control over the footage.

Former Lakers head athletic trainer Gary Vitti compared the situation to a "reality show" and said it was an uncomfortable arrangement at times.

"Everybody just sort of shook their head and, and said, 'Whatever, we got to do, we got to do,'" Vitti recalled. "'Let's just try to do it the best we can.'"

Bryant's crew was granted approval from the NBA to shoot footage.

LeBron James says it will be difficult to deal with the 19-20 season ending without a champion being crowned should the NBA cancel the season outright.

"I don't know if I will be able to have any closure," James said Wednesday on a video conference call with reporters.

The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the title favorites in James' second season with the franchise.

"I can have some satisfaction on what our team has been able to do this year, having a first-year coach, first-year system, a whole new coaching staff, bringing on so many new pieces to our team this year," James said. "Doing the things that I honestly -- like I told you guys all year -- I honestly didn't think that we would be able to come together as fast as we did. I thought it would take us a lot longer than it did. But I was wrong. I was very wrong about that."

The Los Angeles Lakers have asked the senior-level members of their front office to voluntarily defer 20 percent of their salaries.

The Lakers hope this will shield lesser-income employees from being asked to take a pay reduction due to COVID-19.

The NBA league office reduced based salaries by 20 percent for approximately 100 of their top-earning executives. 

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2020 includes Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett as first ballot inductees.

Rudy Tomjanovich, Tamika Catchings, Patrick Baumann, Barbara Stevens, Kim Mulkey and Eddie Sutton have also been named to the Hall of Fame.

“No amount of words can fully describe what Kobe Bryant meant to the Los Angeles Lakers,” said Jeanie Buss. “Kobe was not only a proven winner and a champion, he gave everything he had to the game of basketball. His fierce competitiveness, work ethic and drive were unmatched. Those qualities helped Kobe lead us to five titles – and have now brought him to the Hall of Fame, where he will be enshrined with the greatest to have ever played the game. No one deserves it more.”