"Is he still on their books?" - NBA fans react to LeBron James' former Russian teammate and Laker getting spotted during Rockets game
LeBron James and the LA Lakers outlasted the Houston Rockets 104-98 on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. James finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists, but he wasn't the most viral NBA personality after the game.
Timofey Mozgov, a former teammate of "The King" in Cleveland, was in attendance for the Lakers-Rockets. Mozgov, the Russian big man who also donned purple and gold before, is famous for his Lakers contract from almost 10 years ago.
In a short video uploaded on X, eagle-eyed NBA fans spotted Mozgov courtside during Sunday's game.
Here's the video of Mozgov at the Lakers-Rockets game:
NBA fans reacted to Timofey Mozgov's cameo since he was not popular among the Lakers fanbase. Mozgov signed a four-year, $64 million contract with the Lakers in 2016 free agency.
Some fans asked if the Russian center was still on the team's payroll this season. He famously won a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers alongside LeBron James.
Here are some of the best comments about Mozgov:
"Is he still on their books?" a fan asked.
"Best center in the LeBron Cavs 2nd stint era," one fan claimed.
"I assumed I wouldn't see Timofey Mozgov tonight. I was wrong," another fan remarked.
"They still making him work for that contract it seems," a fan wrote.
"It’s always hilarious looking at team’s bench and seeing an ex semi-good role player that got a crazy contract," one fan commented.
"The guy whose contract got Mitch Kupchak fired," another fan tweeted.
Mozgov lasted just one season in Los Angeles before he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez. Mozgov was in Brooklyn for one season, but after bouncing around the professional stage, he ultimately retired after the 2022 season and returned to Russia.
When Timofey Mozgov highlighted one crucial part of LeBron James' 2016 NBA Finals triumph
There's no denying that LeBron James carried the Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2016 NBA championship. Kyrie Irving might have won Game 7 with his shot over Steph Curry, but James was the one who got them to that point.
Speaking to EuroHoops in 2019, Timofey Mozgov explained that James' play on the court was as important as his motivational speeches in the locker room.
"If Lebron only played like he played and didn’t do his locker room speeches, we wouldn’t have won," Mozgov said. "As good as he was on the court, if he didn’t motivate the team as he did, we wouldn’t have won. He motivated us and made sure that we had the right attitude. When we were trailing 3-1, not one player on the team thought we'd lose, thanks to him."
The Cavaliers became the first team in NBA Finals history in 2016 to come back from a 3-1 deficit and win the title.