Just over a week after three billboards surfaced near Cleveland imploring Cavaliers superstar LeBron James to consider joining the Philadelphia 76ers next season. Cleveland responded by putting up its own massive message on the side of a building. Now, another town has upped its billboard game.
A Los Angeles Lakers fan has gone one step farther than the Sixers, placing four billboards around Los Angeles with the hashtag #LABron to recruit The King to the Lakers.
The billboards take direct shots at Philadelphia and Cleveland, including slogans like "Forget the process, we win banners!" and "Cleveland & Philly, you can't compete with L.A." They were purchased by attorney and self-proclaimed Lakers "super fan," Jacob Emrani.
4 LeBron billboards are going up around LA today. These. A 3rd depicts Lakers retired jerseys with LeBron’s as the next one. A 4th says “Forget The Process, we win banners.” Bought by attorney, and Laker fan, Jacob Emrani. Cavs play Clippers & Lakers this week. pic.twitter.com/XaWLGN49pE
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) March 7, 2018
This is 3rd of 4 billboards (pic by @meganlmoureaux) that longtime Lakers season ticket holder/personal injury attorney Jacob Emrani has put up around LA for LeBron to LA. “If this goes well, I’m planning to do the same thing for Paul George sometime down the road,” Emrani said. pic.twitter.com/ilgrcL4zpu
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) March 7, 2018
The billboards went up in advance of the Cavaliers heading to L.A. to play the Clippers on Friday and the Lakers on Sunday. Chances are, those games will be filled with plenty more signs recruiting LeBron to La La Land.
Unless you've been on a different planet for the entire NBA season, you know that James has the opportunity to opt out of his Cavs contract and become a free agent this summer, a storyline that has dominated the headlines all year. Most reports indicate that even LeBron doesn't know what he's going to do yet, and much will depend on how the rest of the season shakes out for the Cavs.
Some felt that Cleveland acquiring Brooklyn's first-round draft pick in the Kyrie Irving trade and their pre-trade deadline moves to get younger players with more potential were indications that the organization is planning for a worst-case-scenario future that doesn't involve LeBron James.
Either way, it looks like fans aren't going to stop recruiting the superstar any time soon.