LeBron James' longevity is unparalleled, especially in professional basketball. The fact that he remains this productive on the hardwood is simply mind-blowing. And with the Los Angeles Lakers star's career coming to an end soon, the NBA partnered with Topps to have James wear a special 23rd season jersey patch for every game to commemorate how he's the only player in NBA history to reach that many seasons in the association.
However, the start to James' life with the special 23rd season jersey patch wasn't very ideal. The Lakers ended up falling to the 14th placed-team in the West, the Sacramento Kings, 124-112, as LA couldn't stop Sacramento from pouring on the buckets.
The Kings have been having fun on social media lately, most recently trolling Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets for imitating the lighting of the beam that Sacramento made famous during the 2022-23 season. They gave James a similar treatment, trolling him for losing on the debut of his jersey patch similar to how he lost his career debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers on the 30th of October back in 2003.
“bad day to be a jersey patch debut 🙂↔️,” the Kings' post on their official account on X reads.
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Kings pour it on against reeling Lakers defense
Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk (0) gestures after scoring against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center.
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
James did not have a bad night, although he did not stuff the stat sheet as he's usually done thus far in January (he finished with 22 points, three rebounds, and four assists on the night). But he and the Lakers couldn't guard anyone from the Kings; Sacramento shot 58.4 percent from the field and 65.4 percent from beyond the arc, taking advantage of an LA defense in disarray.
Malik Monk had a bit of a revenge game against his former team; he put up 26 points on 9-15 shooting from the field and 7-9 from deep to make his case for a bigger role for the Kings.