LeBron James and DeMar DeRozan executed an incredible plan this summer by teaming up together to play in the Drew League. DeMar and LeBron could’ve been Lakers’ teammates last season, but the franchise chose Russell Westbrook over DeRozan. As a result, LBJ and DeMar had to team up together in a pro-am setting at the Drew League.
The star of the LA Lakers and a hometown NBA player appearing in local leagues is a dream come true for many. Not only do they bring greater exposure to the league, but they also give the players a chance to interact with fans and members of the basketball community in a city.
Most importantly, kids that may not come to watch NBA games got a chance to see LeBron James play basketball live and interact with him. Draymond Green opened up about how much actions like that can mean to a fanbase in a city, especially children that are getting to interact with the NBA players they watch on TV all the time.
“As someone who’s not a local here, what I saw was like you just said, kids that will never in their life have the opportunity to watch you play have the opportunity to watch LeBron James play, and, like, I could feel that. Like, you could see that… You could see the reactions on their faces and to allow the city to touch him.”
“Growing up, NBA players were surreal to me. They weren’t real people. Somebody you watched play basketball on TV and, like, ‘wow, that’s incredible. I want to do that one day, but no clue how to get there.’ What I saw from those kids was, they got to touch you. They got to touch LeBron James.” (h/t SportsKeeda)
Draymond makes some fantastic points. Many fans of the sport have probably never been able to attend a game and watch players like LeBron live, so to watch him and DeMar in a setting like the Drew League would have been an incredible experience for fans in the building.
Players know the value of the community of fans around them and often do things that’ll help them show their involvement in the issues of the area. Sometimes, they can give the community a boost by just getting around them and playing basketball.
