NBA superstar LeBron James is trying to ease into his new season with the LA Lakers and his hand-picked running buddy Anthony Davis. In the battle for LA that the NBA is hyping like a Jordan comeback, the league pitted LeBron and the Lakers against terminator superhero Kawhi Leonard and his new Clippers club on opening night.
If it was meant to signal a rivalry between two star-studded teams sharing an arena in America’s second biggest city — well, James says nope.
“It’s the first game,” James said, after the Clippers beat the Lakers on the strength of Leonard’s 30 points. “Everybody’s trying to have the narrative of a rivalry game… We’re a new group. We have a new coaching staff and a new system. It’s not a rivalry,” said James, saying both teams aren’t where they want to be. But one looked much closer…
But fans clapped back at James saying, “Not a rivalry? Clippers played like it was.” Another writes about James: “Does he not understand that him and Kawhi — the guy that gave him those finals losses — is trying to defend his city — and it’s LA vs LA.”