LeBron James Gave Lakers Fans A Free Taste Wednesday Night

LeBron James is, by any measure, one of the greatest basketball players of all-time. The fact that he’s still the best player on the planet after 15 seasons is truly remarkable. Obviously fans of the Los Angeles Lakers are dying to watch him play for their franchise. Well, Wednesday night he showed them what they’re getting.

James played the first half of the Lakers’ 123-113 win over the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas. Despite being on the floor for just 18 minutes, he did everything. He was brilliant, scoring 15 points while adding 10 rebounds, five assists and a steal.

Check out his highlights from the night:

Like a drug dealer trying to get someone hooked on his product, James gave Lakers fans a free taste of what’s available. Now they’re addicted and will only want more. The thing is, LeBron is going to provide it.

Fans got even more that just James Wednesday night. Brandon Ingram dropped 26 points, Kyle Kuzma added 22 and Lonzo Ball made his first appearance of the preseason.

Oh, and LeBron tossed this perfect alley-oop pass to Lonzo like they’d been playing together for years:

Ho hum.

Yeah, it was just a preseason game, but man was that fun.

The other thing? For the first time in years it actually looks like LeBron is having fun on a basketball court. It feels like the pressure is off of him right now. No one expects the Lakers to contend for a title this season, he actually gets along with the team’s ownership and management and he’s got a bunch of young players around him who are willing to absorb everything he has to say. It just feels different.

James is going to wind down his career over the next few seasons and it appears he’s finally at peace. He’s going to go out in a place he’s comfortable and where he’s comfortable with himself.