Sports

LA Locals Keep Vandalizing LeBron James Murals

by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP

Font Size:

NBA superstar LeBron James recently announced he would make the earth-shattering move from his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to play for the storied franchise of the LA Lakers, and most Lakers fans are understandably pumped for The King’s arrival.

But there are some faithful Kobe Bryant fans that just can’t accept the fact that there’s a new sheriff in town.

A mural of LeBron in his new Laker threads was painted in the city and named “The King of LA” by its artist Jonas Never, according to the New York Post.

A mural of LeBron James in a Los Angeles Lakers jersey is viewed in Venice, California on July 9, 2018. – It was originally revealed July 6, 2018, and then vandalized over the weekend, and re-touched up again with the word “of” not repainted from the original words “the King of LA”. Artists Jonas Never and Menso One painted the mural to welcome LeBron James to Los Angeles, outside the Baby Blues BBQ resturant in Venice, California. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)

Unfortunately, the mural was then vandalized twice within the span of 5 days with various biting phrases and jabs at the 14-time all-star such as “We Don’t Want You” and “3-6,” a reference to James’ record in the NBA Finals.

The artist ultimately painted over the mural to avoid this type of drama surrounding his art.

But now another mural has popped up with the pro’s depiction, this one painting James in a more respectful light, looking up to Laker legends like Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

Can you guess what happens next?

Yes, this mural was also defaced.

The artist, Gustavo Zermeno told ESPN he made the mural to convey the message that LeBron is coming to the Lakers with a sense of respect. Despite the artist’s intentions, the mural was still splattered with white paint.

He did, however, say that “40 to 50” Laker fans stopped to help him fix the mural. He also noted how surprised he was that some people did not approve of LeBron as a Laker.

The team’s owner Jeanie Buss seemed to echo that sentiment when she tried to deny that Lakers fans had any involvement in the vandalism at all.

It does make me wonder: James is clearly a guy who cares a great deal about his legacy — is his Laker legacy being dragged down before it even gets off of the ground?

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel