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On first glance, LeBron James entering free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers and “Avengers: Infinity War” wouldn’t seem to have ton in common with one another.
Despite rampant rumors that James’ interest in Hollywood might be part of what takes him to L.A. this summer, the Avengers seems like an unlikely film franchise for him to join given how established it is.
But while the topics wouldn’t seem to have a lot to do with each other on their face, leave it to mad genius Chris Manning (aka @LD2K, aka the Godfather of Lakers hype videos) to deftly combine the three for his masterwork: A trailer mash-up that will give any Lakers fan goosebumps and convince them #LABron is destiny:
(As an aside, the visual of Magic Johnson asking what LeBron’s name was in this KILLED me)
From James edited into a Lakers practice warmup, to the superhero sound effects being perfectly timed to dunks and chest pounds, and even Marvel’s always-incredible score, this is the hype video to end all hype videos. Surely even the most anti-LeBron Lakers fan probably can’t help themselves and get a little excited after watching that.
With free agency still a month away, all these super team scenarios are still as fictional as the Avengers themselves (an actual super team). However, if LeBron really did manage to find a way to team with Paul George on the Lakers, and if the team could find a way to deal for Kawhi Leonard or another disgruntled star, it would be the NBA equivalent of putting an actual team of super heroes together.
Whether it would be enough to stop the Golden State Warriors remains to be seen, but much like Thanos, all LeBron is trying to do is balance the universe and stop overpopulation (of titles in the Bay Area).
You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.