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With the Los Angeles Lakers in a comfortable position against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, LeBron James watched the final 46 seconds of the game from the bench with a victory cigar in his mouth, although this victory sugar was red, twisty and had a hint of raspberry. In actuality, it was licorice. However, the exact type of licorice James was eating caused quite the stir both on Twitter and in the locker room.
While many jumped to the conclusion that James was eating Y&S Candies’ Twizzlers, the tape strongly supports that he was actually eating the American Licorice Company’s Red Vines, to the chagrin of his head coach, Frank Vogel.
“That’s disappointing because, technically, if you’re from the Midwest, typically Midwest and East Coast people are Twizzlers people,” Vogel, a native of Wildwood, New Jersey, said after practice on . “So, I’m a little disappointed that he wasn’t eating Twizzlers on the bench.”
Twizzlers or Red Vines? @KingJames pic.twitter.com/t8UU0dRs4K
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 26, 2020
In all fairness to James, it’s not like he had his pick of the litter at the time, as it appears a fan gave him a few. So, there’s still a strong possibility that James, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, still prefers Twizzlers, which were concocted in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In the event that James is anti-Twizzliers, Vogel can rest easy knowing that at least one of his players recognizes Twizzers as the superior licorice provider: Anthony Davis.
Davis, who was born and raised in Chicago Illinois, refused to acknowledge Red Vines in a tense post-practice exchange with Bill Oram of The Athletic.
Best moment of today’s Anthony Davis scrum, as AD thoroughly blocks @billoram pro-Red Vines agenda pic.twitter.com/odjiszl9hp
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) February 26, 2020
Hopefully this clearly divisive debate doesn’t disrupt the synergy in the Lakers’ locker room and they can put their differences aside for a few months to compete for an NBA championship. Otherwise, things could get uglier than they did after the trade deadline last season.
Where do you stand in the Red Vines-Licorice debate? Let us know in the comments below, and for more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.