The Los Angeles Lakers have played in several highly anticipated games this season. Opening night, both on the road when they kicked off the season against the Portland Trail Blazers and their home-opener against the Houston Rockets, were complete spectacles. They have already taken on some of the best teams in the NBA, including those Blazers twice, the Toronto Raptors, last year's best regular season team in the Rockets and the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs. Every time these Lakers take the floor, they are the biggest story in the NBA on that night.
But tonight will be a different matter entirely. The Lakers will travel to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers. In case you've been living under a rock for the past decade and a half, that is the team that drafted James originally in 2003. They are his hometown franchise, the team he returned to in 2014 and won a championship with in 2016. James could win five championships with the Lakers, but he will always be remembered for his time with the Cavaliers. He is the greatest player that they have ever had. He has inspired more passion from one city than perhaps any athlete in the history of sports.
The last time he left, he was greeted with hostility. His return with the Miami Heat in 2010 was met with a chorus of boos. But things are different this time around. The fans in Ohio understand why James left, and are just happy to have gotten the championship he delivered. James fulfilled his promise, and on this night, the fans in Cleveland just want to thank him for a great ride.
The game will tip off at 8:00 Eastern Time, 5:00 Pacific Time and will air on ESPN as the front half of a doubleheader (with the back half a similarly themed reunion game, as the Golden State Warriors face the Oklahoma City Thunder, former team of Kevin Durant). As it is a nationally broadcast game, it cannot be streamed on NBA League Pass, but streaming services that carry ESPN such as Fubo TV will have the game and so will the Watch ESPN app. The local radio broadcast will air on 710 ESPNLA with John Ireland and Mychal Thompson on the call, and a list of other radio affiliates in the region can be found here.
The actual basketball here is practically an afterthought. The 9-7 Lakers are a far better team than the 2-13 Cavaliers, but that was hardly unexpected. As a general rule, a team that has LeBron James is usually going to be better than one that doesn't, and the Cavaliers went in the tank the last time he left as well. The focus will be on James for what he did as a Cavalier, but tonight, he is going to win this game as a Laker.