LeBron James and Russell Westbrook drew a lot of attention on Friday night as they both attended the Los Angeles Lakers Summer League game against the Phoenix Suns. As soon as they landed, as well as new head coach Darvin Ham and Rob Pelinka, the attention shifted, and everybody was seeing what all these people had done during the night.
Many people noticed that LeBron and Russ were far away from each other, which set the alarm in Lakers Nation. Bron even talked with Pelinka and Ham while Westbrook watched them from afar.
One would have imagined that they greeted each other at some point, but that wasn’t the case. According to Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register, James and Westbrook never talked to each other during the night.
“For roughly an hour-and-a-half as LeBron James sat baseline for the Lakers’ opener at the Summer League in Las Vegas, he was treated to a parade of the elite guests in attendance,” Goon wrote.
“He was quickly greeted by Jerry Stackhouse and James Jones, his former Miami teammates. That was soon followed by his agent Rich Paul, new Lakers head coach Darvin Ham and general manager Rob Pelinka. Baron Davis and Gary Payton II stopped by, as did James’ Laker teammates: Talen Horton-Tucker, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Wenyen Gabriel, and Thomas Bryant. Once, when Scotty Pippen Jr. spilled out on the baseline after an and-one layup, James leaped out of his seat to help hoist him up.
“There was one notable exception among the visitors: Russell Westbrook, who sat in the opposite corner of Thomas & Mack Center next to the summer league players, stayed on the far side of James. The two superstar teammates – who as of now are scheduled to play together again come October – made no public acknowledgment of one another before Westbrook left the exhibition at halftime.”
This situation doesn’t help the Lakers amid trade rumors regarding Kyrie Irving. The team has a lot on their plate right now, and even though Westbrook opted into his player option for next season, it is not a 100% guarantee that he will start next season with the Purple and Gold.
After a tumultuous first season with the Lakers, Westbrook is expected to leave the team, and fans made it clear they want him out on Friday, starting ‘We Want Kyrie’ chants at the arena.
