On Sunday night in San Diego, LeBron James officially debuted in the Lakers' iconic purple and gold threads. Despite how long we've known he would be playing in a Lakers uniform this season, it still felt odd, never more so than for the man himself.
“It always feels different for me any time I change uniforms,” James said. “It felt different when I changed from wearing a St Vincent-St Mary jersey to a Cavs jersey, from a Cavs jersey to a Heat jersey, back to a Cavs jersey and now being a Laker, so it definitely feels different. It will take a little bit of time to get used to.”
Despite how glaring the image might've been for Lakers fans in San Diego, or for LeBron himself, he acquainted himself nicely in the first quarter of the game, finding Brandon Ingram with a nice pass in the game's opening minutes, and knocking down a deep 3-pointer off a Rajon Rondo feed:
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He'd finish with nine points, three rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes of action. Preseason is just a preview, but LeBron will likely feel a lot more comfortable in the Lakers duds as the season progresses. His contract locks him to Hollywood for the next four years, so it's unlikely the uniform continues to feel different for Hollywood's new king.
