• An old clip of LeBron James being excited to play against the Lakers has surfaced
• LeBron was grinning from ear to ear at the thought of playing the Lakers in LA, calling them the ‘Hollywood Lakers’
• LeBron would ultimately wear a Lakers jersey in 2018 and has been playing for the franchise ever since
LeBron James was one of the biggest names in basketball before he had even been drafted. Once it was confirmed that he’d be playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, James did many interviews. In one of those interviews, James expressed a lot of excitement about playing the Lakers in the 2003-04 season.
“The Lakers. Every time you go and play the Lakers, everybody gets excited to play the Hollywood Lakers. They ain’t the Los Angeles Lakers, they are the Hollywood Lakers. They got (Karl) Malone, they got four Hall of Famers, you get excited to play them. Especially in LA, you got Jack Nicholson, they got everybody. “
"Everybody gets excited to play the Hollywood Lakers"
19-year-old Bron talking about getting hyped up to play the Lakers. pic.twitter.com/YpzroGt4sA
— NBAStatGuy (@NBAStatGuy_) September 15, 2023
The Lakers in 2003-04 were expected to walk their way to an NBA Championship. They were coming off a losing year in 2003 after three-peating from 2000 to 2022 and reinforced the roster with some incredible talent.
Karl Malone played his retirement season trying to get his first ring with the Lakers, while another ’90s icon, Gary Payton, also joined up.
LeBron James Against The Lakers As A Rookie
James played against the Lakers twice as a rookie, averaging 24.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists over those two games. Given how bad the Cavaliers were, it’s no surprise that they lost both games despite the performances James put on.
His debut against the Lakers came on January 12, 2004 as he and the Cavs traveled to the STAPLES Center to take on an injury-riddled Lakers squad. Shaquille O’Neal didn’t play in the game and nor did Karl Malone. James had a less-than-impressive performance, scoring 16 points on 6/20 shooting. He managed to outperform Kobe Bryant, who scored just 10 points but played only 17 minutes in the contest. The game ended 79-89 in LA’s favor.
His second game against the Lakers came at home and was a much better performance. James put up 34 points and shot 4/4 from the three-point line to carry the Cavs to a competitive contest against a Lakers team without Kobe. But Shaq was available and dominated, dropping 37 points while being flanked by a 30-point performance from Gary Payton.
LeBron was excited to face the Hollywood Lakers but ended up on the losing end both times.
LeBron James Is Now A Lakers Legend
Even though LeBron doesn’t have the resume on the Lakers that players like Kobe, Shaq, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and many more, he has firmly established himself in the pantheon of Lakers greats. He brought a championship to the franchise in 2020 and made the Conference Finals in 2023.
The two seasons he missed the playoffs in LA were wracked with injuries to both ‘Bron and the players on the roster around him. Jeanie Buss has already confirmed that LeBron will one day have his jersey retired and hang in the rafters after his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Over five seasons, LeBron has averaged 27.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 8.0 assists in 278 games on the Lakers. He broke the all-time scoring record while wearing a Lakers jersey last season. He has been named to the All-NBA Team every season with the squad and has also been an All-Star captain for the five seasons he has spent with the purple and gold.
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