Los Angeles – Lebron James Succeeded in returning to the Drew League and scored 42 points. DeMar DeRozan On Saturday, he won 104-102 in the famous Pro-Am Basketball League in Los Angeles.
Longtime Drew League Commissioner Dino Smiley told ESPN that he expected Brooklyn Nets guards. Kyrie Irving I played in the previous game of James and DeRozan, but that didn’t happen.
Smiley said late Saturday afternoon, “I have two games left today and six games tomorrow, so I’ll watch.”
Smiley said Irving, who plays Saturday, “sounded like a solid bet, but I don’t know what happened.”
While the Drew League Saturday slate is being played near Compton, California, about 55 miles away in Thousand Oaks, Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy’s Women’s Basketball Skills Camp attendees Irving I posted a video working with Camper on her Instagram account.
Handy taught Irving for five seasons, which was part of the Cleveland Cavaliers organization.
Saturday’s Drew League match is the first time 37-year-old James has been playing basketball for more than three months. He missed seven of the last eight regular season games of the Spring Lakers due to his left ankle sprain, and missed 26 games in all of 2021-22. This has become one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history.
“I’m 100 percent healthy,” James told ESPN in the first half of the action.
He finished with 42 points, 16 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists with 18 to 36 shots (3 to 2 to 13). Drew League classic DeRozan, who invited James to play for the Casper Ware team from Southern California, scored 30 points with a 9-23 shot in 14 rebounds.
The team of James and DeRozan, called the MMV Cheetahs, stormed back in the fourth quarter, dragging Team Black Pearl Elite by as much as seven points.
DeRozan’s two-handed rim-bent dunk feeds James, with 1:22 left, and appears to be controlling his MMV by six. However, BPE continued to lay up with three pointers created by stealing inbound passes, and James was at risk of losing his first game in the Drew League in over a decade.
After a time-out, MMV inbound the ball to James, who was fouled with 4.5 seconds remaining, and sent it to the free throw line with a team of 103-102.
He made it first. And things got interesting.
“I walked to Revlon to the end, and I told him,’Hey, I need one [miss]”BPE’s Mike Nuwabzor, who is playing professionally abroad, then said,” And he actually smoked a free throw. Probably it was a great moment. But the whole game was fun. Great competition. It’s great to share the court with him. “
James missed his second free throw, but BPE’s Ethan Albano raised a three that could beat the buzzer, and James raised his fist to win.
“I really thought we were able to pull it off,” said Albano, who recently signed a two-year contract to play in South Korea. “We made some mistakes in one fell swoop, but it’s a lifelong dream of fighting with LeBron James. Someone I grew up seeing, someone I grew up idolizing. So it’s an honor. It congratulates you on sharing the court with him. “
It was James’ first appearance in the Drew League, founded in 1973, and since the 2011 NBA lockout, NBA player pilgrimages have fallen into the gymnasium of Charles Drew Junior High School during the summer.
“Because the Baron was surprised when it first happened [Davis] Smiley said, “He took him to play. I think he was just coming to see. I was excited to see the match with the spectators and wanted a jersey,” Smiley said.
Davis is one of the approximately 12 former or current NBA players I had to watch Saturday, and I’m in this group. Draymond Green Golden State Warriors; Montrezl Harrell Charlotte Hornets; and Kendrick Nunn When Talen Horton Tucker Of the Lakers.
Irving’s absence has wiped out many of the day’s plots surrounding James and his former teammates.
Irving recently won $ 36.5 million in player options for the 2022-23 season in Brooklyn Nets. James is in the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers and is eligible to sign an extension with LA starting next month. ..
Los Angeles has negotiated trade with Brooklyn in recent weeks and has attempted to acquire Irving. Russell Westbrook On the net, sources told ESPN. So far, those negotiations have not progressed towards an agreement.
Instead, the focus was on the court, and four years after the Lakers’ tenure, James was happy with the LA basketball scene.
“Because he’s a superstar, he’s here to come here and grace these people in his presence, because he’s here and the ordinary people who respect him come in the middle of the hood every day. I think it’s a super dope, “Albano said,” I’m glad he did it and it’s great for the community. “
Added Smiley: “It was a spectacular, spectacular afternoon of basketball.”
