LeBron James is facing his old team in the NBA Finals, and that’s going to take some getting used to
Bandwagon NBA fans have it tougher than we thought. LeBron James’s squad has long been the go-to NBA team for any fan looking for a new franchise to root for. Unfortunately, he’s played for three teams in that time period, so the Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers have had a number of supporters jump on and off the wagon. That’s just life in the modern NBA, a player-driven league where stars often team up rather than stay in the same city their whole career.
NBA Twitter had some fun with the thought of conflicted Lakers/Heat fans rooting against either their favorite player ever, or a team they used to support.
LeBron James bandwagon fans are in some trouble come the Finals
.@DwyaneWade deciding whether to root for the Heat or LeBron in the Finals pic.twitter.com/9lVF7zFe5n
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 28, 2020
Erik Spoelstra figuring out how the Heat stopping LeBron and AD pic.twitter.com/oOQjIQWlw4
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) September 28, 2020
https://twitter.com/LosPollosTV/status/1310401666995367937
Current Lakers "fans", that were once Heat fans because of LeBron, cheering against the Heat in the finals because LeBron is a Laker in the finals now. pic.twitter.com/kk10VNSua2
— Rollo Tomasi (@DrunkUncTony) September 28, 2020
Lebron after the Heat beat the Lakers in 6 pic.twitter.com/Yd5CyEELDa
— W (@KeenantheGoat) September 28, 2020
https://twitter.com/Cane303/status/1310408324865687552
LeBron seeing the Miami Heat as his opponent in the Finals: pic.twitter.com/Edw0KFhxGZ
— Raised By Sports Pod (@RaisedBySports) September 28, 2020
In all seriousness, LeBron’s Lakers against Jimmy Butler’s Heat should be an intriguing matchup, with LA favored from the opening tip. However, the Heat have blitzed their way through the postseason for a reason, and now team in the East could hang with them.
James familiarity with the Heat likely won’t play much of a role, as it’s been years since he departed Erik Spoelstra’s system. The storyline, nonetheless, is one of the better we’ve seen since the Warriors-Cavaliers matchups of the recent past.