LeBron James analyzed the 2019 playoffs by watching 'every single minute' as it happened, even when he was in Cabo or at a hookah lounge

• LeBron James told reporters on Saturday that he watched every minute of the 2019 playoffs after the Lakers missed the postseason.
• James said he watched the games from home, on vacation in Cabo San Lucas, or from a hookah lounge.
• James said he analyzed the play and put himself in players' shoes to figure out what he would do.
• The Lakers and James are in the NBA Finals, waiting to play either the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics.

LeBron James didn't play in the 2019 playoffs, but he made sure to watch every minute of it.

James' first season with the Los Angeles Lakers was derailed by injuries, trade rumors, and an uneven roster. His 13-year playoff streak was snapped, missing the postseason for the first time since 2005.

After helping the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets on Saturday to make the NBA Finals, James reflected on watching all of last year's playoffs and where he watched from which included a hookah lounge.

"I watched every single minute of the games until they stopped," James told reporters on Saturday. "I actually watched every single postseason game last year."

He added: "There were a couple games where I was at home. There was one or two games where I was in Cabo [San Lucas], and a couple games where I was at a hookah lounge during the Finals last year. That's the truth. I wasn't smoking hookah, but I was there ... The game was on in Cabo, the game was on in my house, and at the hookah lounge."

James said his wife didn't enjoy all of the basketball, but "she'll be OK."

While James said he loves basketball and the competition, he said he also watched to analyze the play and figure out what he would do in certain situations.

"'I wish I was in this moment, what would I have done at that moment? What play would I have made in that moment if I was out there?'" James said.

James is known to be a basketball junkie and a diligent student. He has said he records games via DVR so he can watch them back to study his opponents.

Missing the postseason stung James, and he said he was motivated all year to prove critics who thought he was washed up wrong.

"I heard all the conversations and everything that was said about why did I decide to come to L.A. — the reason I came to L.A., it was not about basketball. All those conversations, just naysayers and things of that nature. I understood that, with the season I had last year and my injury, it just gave them more sticks and more wood to throw in the fire to continue to say the things that they would say about me. But it never stopped my journey and never stopped my mindset."