LeBron promises sick child he will dunk on Lonzo Ball, gives rookie advice

Dec. 15 (UPI) -- He wasn't able to come through, but LeBron James recently promised a little boy in the hospital that he would dunk on Lonzo Ball.

James' Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 121-112 Thursday in Cleveland, but James didn't find the time to throw down on the high-profile rookie.

"Can you dunk on Lonzo for me?" Andrew asked, while sitting in a bed at the Cleveland Clinic Children's hospital.

"I got you," James responded, according to a video from Fox Sports Ohio. "He might not be in my way. Once he sees I'm about to take off, he might move out the way."

James registered a triple-double in the victory, piling up 25 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. Ball nearly had a triple-double, scoring 13 points with 11 assists and eight rebounds.

After the game, James was seen talking to the Lakers rookie. He pulled his jersey over his mouth so other people couldn't decipher what he was saying to Ball.

Luckily, reddit.com user IT-3 found the audio from the conversation.

"Find your zone and just stay [expletive] locked in," James said. "The media is going to ask you what I told you right now. Tell them nothing. Just be aggressive every single day. It's white noise to you. That's all it is. Alright? Let's go."

James said after the game that the conversation was "none of y'all business," when asked about what he said to Ball. He has kept up a public relationship with Ball, including wishing him happy birthday in October.

"I do it because he's said over and over since he was growing up and who he modeled his game after," James said of Ball. "And who was his favorite player? And it was me, and I was humbled by that. So me wishing him a happy birthday was kind of a salute back to him."

James recently splurged on his second home in Los Angeles, fueling free agency rumors.

"I see all the stupid noise that happens, and I can't buy a place in L.A. I can't live in L.A. It's funny noise. But I don't get involved in it, because when I post things, I don't look at comments. I'm so far removed of the white noise and the noise doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to me."

Ball told reporters that James didn't tell him anything. LeBron told also told TNT that he didn't say anything to Ball.

James has 44 made dunks this season.

"That was pretty cool," James said of Andrew's wish. "He told me to dunk on Zo. I seen that thing went viral too...If the kid got one wish, it didn't happen, but if he had one wish to get his mind off what they go through in every day paces in that hospital, I was happy to be part of that."