LeBron James and Trevor Ariza will be teammates once again. The Los Angeles Lakers brought back Ariza almost 10 years after his last stint with the franchise.
Ariza last played for the Miami Heat, where he and the Heat were knocked out in the first round. Ariza has played for the Lakers before, even winning an NBA championship in 2009. But Ariza since then has gone on to play for a lot of franchises.
Ariza will bring more veteran experience to the team. While LeBron James is still putting up elite numbers, he is no longer in his prime. But the veteran presence in the Lakers locker room will be beneficial to them.
This is Ariza and James’ first time as teammates, but the two share a long history with each other dating back to their days as high school basketball players, as the post below by @laker.club chronicles (SWIPE).
Ariza was a standout high school basketball player at the same time that LeBron James was making waves in the NBA. In fact, Ariza thought that James was “overhyped” by the media and that he was the better player because he was doing things by himself, and James had a whole team around him.
Even Ariza’s uncle got involved, saying that he doesn’t understand why LeBron was getting all the publicity because his nephew was better than LeBron.
So when the two players faced off in 2003, it was going to be an affair to remember. In fact, Ariza and his team got off to a hot start and began dominating LeBron and co.
At one point, Ariza stole the ball and dunked it on the other end, and began to taunt LeBron James while coming back down the court. People started to doubt LeBron’s metal after the quick start.
But James responded with one of his best games ever. He put up 52 points and dominated Ariza’s high school team to get the win for St. Vincent St. Mary’s.
LeBron had just as many points as the entire Westchester team, whereas Ariza only scored 12 points. The two made it to the NBA within the next few years, but their careers took very different paths.
James was the number one overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, joining the Cleveland Cavaliers. As for Ariza, he went to UCLA and played there for a year.
While his performances there were solid, he only went on to be the 43rd overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, going to the New York Knicks. Despite all of LeBron’s success, Ariza still won an NBA championship before him.
But it appears that they settled their beef later in their career, with Ariza even once praising LeBron over Kevin Durant in a 2012 interview, saying that LeBron brings more to the team than KD. But that didn’t mean that they had a friendship.
During a Rockets-Cavs game in 2018, things got heated between Ariza and James on more than one occasion. After getting fouled by Ariza, James decided to punish him by going on to score multiple baskets while Ariza was guarding him.
They’ve continued to stay friendly, but competitive throughout their time in the league. But after years of being on opposite sides, Ariza and LeBron will don the same jersey as they both fight to add another championship to their resumes.
