"Oh, Wow, I saw this guy on TV, and now I’m playing against him" - Former LA Lakers big recalls being starstruck after his first meeting with LeBron James
LA Lakers center Thomas Bryant considered his first meeting with LeBron James to be a surreal experience. Having become teammates with "King James" on the LA Lakers' roster this season, Bryant recollected his first game of playing against LeBron.
Thomas Bryant was one of the noteworthy additions to the roster in the offseason. Despite playing his first few NBA games as a Laker in 2017-18, Bryant found himself developing into a fairly reliable rotation piece with the Washington Wizards in the past four years.
It was with the Wizards where Bryant had his first meeting against the Lakers' superstar. When talking about the game against James, he said:
"That was a super surreal moment, and I was like, ‘Oh, wow, I saw this guy on TV, and now I’m playing against him.' Meeting him, that kind of guy, on that type of stature, it was like another surreal moment of this like, ‘Wow, I’m sharing the court with this guy.'"
Thomas Bryant recalls being awestruck in ‘surreal’ first meeting with LeBron James during Lakers-Wizards game: lakersdaily.com/thomas-bryant-…
Bryant's first game against LeBron James took place in the 2018-19 season. This also marked LeBron's first season with Purple and Gold.
Although Thomas Bryant was starstruck, he didn't let this get in the way of securing a win. With the Wizards emerging as victors, Bryant contributed eight points, 11 rebounds and two assists.
Having joined the Lakers in free agency, Thomas Bryant will also hope to contribute to the team's title aspirations this season. Although Bryant has shown potential, he has played just 37 games in the last two seasons because of injury issues.
LeBron James' minicamp is underway
With the new season under a month away, NBA teams have started training camp. LA Lakers have already kicked things off with LeBron James' private training camp.
The #Lakers players are officially in San Diego for LeBron James’s mini-camp this weekend. https://t.co/zl1zGb3w7T
LeBron James' minicamp has become a bit of an annual event at this point. Considering the manner in which the roster has changed in the last few seasons, a camp of this nature helps jump-start the chemistry building process.
Meanwhile, the mini camp may also help settle some unresolved issues within the roster. With Russell Westbrook reportedly in attendance, the Lakers may see the nine-time All-Star start the season as well.
Russell Westbrook is reportedly in attendance at the #Lakers players-only minicamp, likely signaling he will begin the season with the team.
lakersnation.com/lakers-rumors-… https://t.co/AUipJ7sH2j
With Westbrook at the center of an offseason drama, the Lakers will hope that such factors won't affect the team's performance.
Russell Westbrook coming off the bench is being “strongly considered” by the Lakers, per @sam_amick and @jovanbuha
HC Darvin Ham is ready to make “whatever difficult rotation decisions” lie ahead for the team https://t.co/ZgfOs2bTXJ