Although things have never been more of a joke with the Los Angeles Lakers ownership group and the front office, no amount of embarrassing Magic Johnson ESPN appearances can change a very important fact: they have LeBron James.
And because the Lakers have LeBron and the L.A. market, they still have chance to attract free agents in spite of all the mess. LeBron is reportedly doing his part to recruit future free agents like Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard. But he could also reunite with former Cavaliers teammate Kyrie Irving, who is apparently intrigued by the idea.
Irving is only fueling that speculation by hanging out in Los Angeles lately, including being mobbed in the street yesterday outside an L.A. area restaurant. Irving was surrounded by fans yelling out “come to L.A.” and “join the Lakers,” among other things.
Obviously, Irving hanging out in Los Angeles doesn’t mean he’s going to be a Laker. Most of the NBA spends the summer in Los Angeles for a variety of reasons: the weather, access to some of the best summer pick up games and the amount of activities available to NBA players.
But still, the idea of Irving in Purple and Gold doesn’t seem that wild anymore. Although it would be jarring to see a star player go from Celtics Green to the Lakers, Irving seems iconoclastic tendencies makes the reality of a move West a lot easier to visualize.
