Los Angeles Lakers rookie Jaxson Hayes said it’s definitely going to be pretty wild to play with LeBron James in the upcoming season. Hayes was recently roped in by the Lakers during the offseason in free agency by general manager Rob Pelinka.
The 23-year-old has grown up idolizing LeBron James and he is looking forward to the opportunity of sharing the court with the veteran. It will be interesting to note what Hayes will bring to the table for the Lakers and he will be looking to give his best to the team.
The youngster said in a video uploaded by the Lakers on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, “Being a kid from Ohio, I used to watch LeBron growing up. It’s definitely going to be pretty wild having LeBron as a teammate.”
He added, “Me and him have talked a lot throughout the years since I started playing, we had a bet a few years ago about my high school beating his high school in the state championship and then COVID shut that down. So, yeah, we never got to finish out that bet, but hopefully, we can.”
Hayes recalled watching Kobe Bryant and LeBron James while playing for the Lakers and Cleveland respectively, when he was a young kid. The 6’10’’ big man feels it was the coolest day of his childhood.
“My favorite Kobe [and] Bron memory was when I was in fourth grade, I went up to Cleveland to go watch a Lakers versus Cavs game and I want to say Bron and Kobe both had like over 30 [points] and it was the coolest day of my life as a kid.”
Meanwhile, LeBron James averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 55 games in 2022-23. He was selected to play in his nineteenth All-Star games.
The upcoming NBA season will be the 21st of James’ career. It has been reported that the Lakers’ home opener is against the Phoenix Suns on October 26.
