Yesterday, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James made a trip to Las Vegas to watch Lonzo Ball and the Los Angeles Lakers square off against the Philadelphia 76ers in this year’s NBA Summer League tournament.
After a hard-fought battle, the Lakers managed to eek out a come-from-behind victory, 103-102. With the King spectating from the sidelines, Ball, who can now say he has a Summer League win under his belt for the first time, led the charge with 36 points on 12-of-22 shooting from the field (3-of-10 from beyond the arc), 11 assists, and eight rebounds.
During last night’s game, James noticed that Ball was wearing a unique pair of Nike’s instead of his usual Big Baller Brand kicks. Ordinarily, a players’ shoe selection isn’t that big of a deal. With all of the hype surrounding his namesake brand, it was a bit of a surprise to see Ball switching to Nike. James, a known connoisseur of all things shoe-related, posted a picture of Ball’s sneakers to his Instagram account with a caption that read, “Just. Do. It.”
As patrons began filing out of the arena after last night’s game, one avid Lakers fan took it upon himself to campaign for a James-to-L.A. move in 2018, shouting: “LeBron, Come to the Lakers!”
Here in Vegas, where LeBron has come by to watch Lakers & Sixers, fan yells, "LeBron, come to the Lakers!" Fans trying to get his attention.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 13, 2017
As of today, there is nobody on Flat Earth (or regular Earth, if you like) who knows what James’ intentions are after the 2017-18 season. Will he stay with the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference, where the path to the Finals seems a bit easier? Or will the three-time champion take his talents to Southern California to compete in the loaded Western Conference? It seems hoops fans will just have to wait and see.