LeBron James and the Lakers “really have a chance,” says former Cavs teammate Kevin Love.
James led Los Angeles past visiting Cleveland 128-99 Monday night, finishing with 31 points and eight assists.
Love adds that LeBron and Anthony Davis “could do something special” this season.
Per ESPN:
“Everybody did [have some doubt],” Love told ESPN. “What do they say, I’m not a religious guy, but, ‘You want to make God laugh, tell him your plans’? There’s no sure thing other than death and taxes, right? Another cliché. But it’s true. Who is to know that it will all work out? But they got really fortunate that it’s obviously L.A., it’s LeBron and they’re in win-now mode. They really have a chance.”
The Los Angeles Lakers’ 128-99 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday was the first time James and Love had played against one another since James left Cleveland for L.A. as a free agent in the summer of 2018, after injuries caused James to miss one and Love to miss both of the teams’ matchups last season.
“It was different because it’s been so long and we’ve been through so many battles with each other,” Love told ESPN. “I’m not going to say it felt normal, but I feel like we were both out there competing and playing hard, but seeing him play with that team is obviously different. Especially, even I didn’t get to see him with AD [Anthony Davis] and it still feels like they could do something special.”
L.A. ran its win streak to nine, and [Tristan] Thompson was left with the same impression the rest of the league felt about the Cavaliers during those four seasons he shared the court with James.
“This is a team,” Thompson said of the Lakers, “for them, it’s a championship-or-bust year.”
