Friday night was pretty intense for the Los Angeles Lakers. In a rematch of their 2021 playoff first-round series, the purple and gold were dominated by the Phoenix Suns. They ultimately won the match by 10 points.
Besides the Anthony Davis-Dwight Howard altercation, fans at Staples Center saw more curious moments on the court. For instance, LeBron James stopped trying in the 3rd quarter, engaging in a back and forth with the Suns’ bench. But that wasn’t the only strange moment James lived during the night.
At one point, the Lakers superstar was resting on the bench when he started exchanging jabs with Suns player Cameron Payne. LeBron sent a big message to the guard, who tried to trash talk him.
“Stay humble! Come on! You was at home a year and a half ago. Now you wanna pop off,” the King shouted from the bench.
LeBron telling Cam Payne to “stay humble” after they exchange words
(h/t @VinoUncorked)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 23, 2021
The Lakers are living very complex moments right now. They have lost the first two games of the season after going winless in the preseason. Besides getting defeated, rivals have field days talking smack to them, and their players are going at each other during games.
This doesn’t look good for the 17-time NBA champions, but they’re still confident things will click for them and we’ll see that dangerous, title-favorite team.
LeBron just started season 19, and he’s trying to carry his team. They still need to find their touch with the new additions, recover injured players, and then see how this squad can actually play. Meanwhile, they need to do some damage control while things are still falling into place.
James finished the night with 25 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists. Anthony Davis contributed with 22 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists for the purple and gold.
