The Drew League is where James plays for the first time in four years. There is a time and a place for this.
In L.A.'s famed pro-am basketball league Saturday, James scored 42 points while teaming up with DeMar DeRozan for a 104-102 win.
The Brooklyn Nets guard was supposed to play in the game before James and the Raptors, but he didn't.
"We have a few games left today and tomorrow, so we'll see," he said.
It seemed like it was going to be a sure bet, but I don't know what happened.
While the Drew League's Saturday slate was being played near Compton, California, some 55 miles away in Thousand Oaks, a participant posted a video of Irving working with the campers.
Irving was coached by Handy for five years when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Drew League game was the first time that the public had seen James in a while. One of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history was the one in which he missed 26 games due to an ankle injury.
James said he was healthy during the first half of the game.
He finished with 42 points on 18 for 36 shooting (2-for-13 from 3), 16 rebound, 4 steals and 3 assists The Drew League staple who invited James to play on his team, scored 30 points on 9-for-23 shooting with 14 rebound.
The MMV Cheaters trailed team Black Pearl Elite by seven points in the fourth quarter before storming back.
MMV was up by six and appeared to be in control after James dunked for a two-handed, rim-bending dunk. James was in danger of losing his first Drew League game in more than a decade after BPE followed with a 3-pointer and layup.
After a timeout, MMV inbounded the ball to James, who made the first of two free throws to give his team the lead.
He was the first one to make it. Things began to get interesting.
Mike Nwabuzor of BPE, who plays professionally overseas, said after the game, "I told him, 'Hey, I need one.' " He threw the free throw. That was the best time. The entire game was enjoyable. Competition is great. It's nice to share the court with him.
James missed the second free throw, but the BPE player put up a potential game-winning 3 at the buzzer, and James raised his hand in victory.
"I think we could have pulled it off," said Alvano, who signed a two-year contract to play in South Korea. Some mistakes were made down the stretch. That's a lifelong dream to play against, with or without the king. I grew up admiring someone that I watched. It was a pleasure to share the court with him.
The Drew League has seen a pilgrimage of NBA players ascend on the Charles Drew Junior High School gymnasium during the summers for decades, since the NBA Lockout in 2011.
"When that first happened it was a surprise because Baron Davis brought him in to play, and I think he was coming just to watch, and then he got excited seeing the crowd and then he wanted a jersey." That's how it happened.
Davis was one of about a dozen former or current NBA players on hand to watch, a group that also included Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.
There was a lot of interest in the day surrounding James and Irving.
Irving recently picked up his $36.5 million player option for the 2022-23 season with the Brooklyn Nets, and James is in the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.
According to sources, Los Angeles has been trying to get Irving in a deal that would send Russell Westbrook to the Nets. The talks have yet to reach an agreement.
The focus was on the court with James four years into his Lakers tenure ingratiating himself with the L.A. basketball scene.
"For him to be here and come to the middle of the 'hood where regular people are 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- 888-609- It's great for the community that he did it.
It was an epic day of basketball.
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