CALIFORNIA – They said meeting your heroes was a bad idea, but the Lakers’ rookies simply beg to disagree when it comes to King Lebron.
On September 2nd, the South Bay Lakers, an official NBA G League affiliate of the LA Lakers, released a light-hearted video on their official Twitter account. Titled “Meeting the King”, the 40-second clip featured the Lakers’ rookies, reminiscing about the moment they unexpectedly encountered the 38-year-old legend himself, LeBron James.
One after the other, they eagerly recounted their initial reactions when they encountered Lebron at the practice facilities.
Alex Fudge, who was still in disbelief, recalled their interaction with enthusiasm:
“I met LeBron today,” Fudge said. “It was crazy. I’m not going to lie, I froze up.”
“Yeah, I just froze up. I shook his hand, and he was like “Bron”, and I’m just like..”
Fudge then playfully looked up, and then stared into space, which seemed to mean that he was wondering why the King felt the need to introduce himself.
“I know you’re Bron,” Fudge said. “I should be the one telling you, ‘Alex.’ It was just so crazy. It happened so fast. And we just…yeah, I just froze.”
“He’s one of the greatest guys I’ve looked up to.”, he added.
Colin Castleton, on the other hand, had a calm demeanour as he was explaining his encounter:
“I met Lebron for the first time today, it was pretty cool.”, Castleton said.
“He kinda just walk in here, didn’t know he was gonna be here. He was working out and then said, “what’s up?”
When it was D’Moi Hodge’s turn, he appeared on the video with a smile on his face, immediately hinting at how surreal the experience was.
“I did meet him [LeBron James] today. I met Lebron today.”, Hodge said.
“Yeah, he came up to me like “I’m Bron”. I’m like, you know, I mean I know you.” , he continued.
For these up-and-coming stars, meeting the King was a dream come true.
Meeting the King ?#SBLakers x @Lakers pic.twitter.com/ldPKnrFXGI
— South Bay Lakers (@SouthBayLakers) September 1, 2023
His monicker, “king”, originated from a local Ohio sportswriter who saw his potential and deemed he had the talent and skill set to match the all-time basketball greats, Michael Jackson and Magic Johnson. Fast forward to the future, James has now achieved four NBA championships, four NBA Finals MVP awards, and 19 NBA All-Star games and has proven himself to be worthy of his famous nickname.