LeBron James, widely considered to have carried the Cleveland Cavaliers through the playoffs, has signed a four-year, $154-million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, and everyone’s reaction seems to be “Yeah, we get it.”
LeBron is considered by many to be the greatest NBA player of all time, and his team was still swept in the first four games of the finals by the Golden State Warriors.
Maybe because of moments like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imMSjrwsRaM
JR Smith taking the ball back out instead of going for the win in game one has come to represent the whole series in people’s minds. It might be a bit unfair to the Cavs, after all, you don’t get all the way to the NBA finals because of one player, even if that player is as talented as James, but it’s still fair to say that LeBron shouldered an enormous amount of the burden.
“The load that I have to carry offensively, it’s been what the season has asked for,” he said in a post-finals interview, available on NBA.com
All of which is to say that LeBron’s move to L.A. is seen as both unsurprising and well deserved. Naturally, Twitter celebrated it with memes galore.
JR: Man, why you leavin?
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) July 2, 2018
LeBron: pic.twitter.com/J3Uf8eY62o
Now LA has a God and a King!
— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) July 2, 2018
Zlatan welcomes @KingJames pic.twitter.com/4gYooOpURD
I’m welcoming all new @Lakers fans, BUT it’s only fair that y’all fill one of these out. I’ve been a Laker my whole life.. make your decision public! 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/pvf4UMByQn
— Derek Carr (@derekcarrqb) July 2, 2018
“Yo Lebron why you got purple on your jersey” pic.twitter.com/L9ZPMdcmP9
— 🆖 (@nicgarza09) July 2, 2018
“And now the strenf of the Cavs will be stripped eweh” pic.twitter.com/tVxYMil671
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) June 9, 2018
LeBron's path to the Finals in the East vs. LeBron's path in the West#RingerNBA pic.twitter.com/d37wF1PIeh
— The Ringer (@ringer) July 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/LBJ23_Fan/status/1013594226469285888
https://twitter.com/the_real_clong/status/1013594141610127362
https://twitter.com/tonestradamus/status/1013595195919753218
Beyonce, Lebron James is moving into the neighborhood. It’s your time. pic.twitter.com/86VJmRcAQT
— jason bolaños (@JBinAV) July 2, 2018
Even Cavs fans seem to understand the move. For the most part they seemed grateful to James for leading the team to their 2016 Championship win.
https://twitter.com/ScottEffross/status/1013613888447963137
Its that time. @Reflog_18 @BleacherReport @SN_Ohio pic.twitter.com/zAcFj6RpZ9
— Alec (@alecsapolin) July 2, 2018
But forreal tho pic.twitter.com/MvVkS8Pgs2
— Michael McCoppin (@MMcCoppin) July 2, 2018
Although at least one fan had to remind James that when he came back to Cleveland he said: “I’m not going anywhere ever again.”
Remember that Friday night Bron had after he returned in 2014?
— Russell Williams (@Russ_Will_) July 2, 2018
"That man is LeBron James and on Friday, 30,000+ Cleveland fans welcomed him back home and James proposed by saying “I’m not going anywhere ever again.”
Thanks for that PR move, @KingJames.
One can hardly blame James for making the move, though. Playing for the Lakers does give him a better shot at winning another NBA title, and the $154 million dollars probably doesn’t hurt either. Although it’s possible, as one fan suggested, that he just wants easier access to In-N-Out Burger.
https://twitter.com/jbillinson/status/1013578242165493760