The day after the Los Angeles Lakers topped the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night, star LeBron James shared a loving message for San Antonio's Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich:

“Love you Pop!!”

The message comes after James praised Popovich while speaking about their relationship before Friday's game.

“The utmost respect. One of the greatest coaches of all time. But more importantly, one of the best people of all time that I've ever been around. I love everything about Coach Pop. To be able to share the floor with him, to be able to talk to him and have a friendship that we have — it's very special to me.”

James also indirectly complimented Popovich while talking about rookie Victor Wembanyama and his skillset immediately after the Lakers' win.

“He has an unbelievable coach that's gonna make sure he does things the right way, plays the game the right way,” said the Lakers star. “He's gonna continue to develop. He's already special, but he's gonna continue to get better and better and better each and every game, each and every year he steps on the floor.”

LeBron played pretty well himself. In his first non-All-Star game since February 13th, James finished with 30 points on 13-of-22 shooting for the Lakers, while also dishing out nine assists and hauling in seven rebounds over 34 minutes of action. He said his lingering left ankle issue — which caused him to miss the game before and after the break — responded fine.

LeBron and the Lakers next take on the Phoenix Suns on Sunday afternoon.