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Today in updates that surely no one will speculate about, Kyrie Irving decided to show up and sit courtside for Lakers vs. Grizzlies Game 6 in Los Angeles. Joining him — sitting in his customary seats to the right of the scorer’s table on the TV broadcast for the first time in seemingly forever — was Lakers superfan Jack Nicholson.
In Nicholson’s case, this is the first game he’s attended to see his favorite team since last year's season opener, almost as if he saw one game of that roster and decided to come back when they were serious.
What can we say? The man knows ball:
Jack Nicholson back courtside for the Lakers - first time since last season’s opening night. pic.twitter.com/OEyr3XPsqA
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 29, 2023
Look who’s in the building for Lakers-Grizzlies Game 6 pic.twitter.com/oByjQpON5u
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 29, 2023
Game 6: Jack's Back pic.twitter.com/iiX3gNCfSM
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 29, 2023
A Few Good Men pic.twitter.com/O41kjQbbMH
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 29, 2023
Just like Russell Westbrook, it seems that Jack felt a bit better about things after the Rusell Westbrook trade:
Man waited out the entire Westbrook era we stan a king https://t.co/8SJAnD1yDj
— Anthony F. Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) April 14, 2023
As for Irving, the enigmatic Mavericks star also came out of wherever he’s been hibernating to stir up some drama watch some basketball from a team that actually made the playoffs, taking a seat directly opposite of the Lakers’ bench, presumably to just stare down and/or boo D’Angelo Russell:
Kyrie Irving arriving to Game 6 of Lakers-Grizzlies pic.twitter.com/hrDmdaCsVI
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) April 29, 2023
LeBron made sure to go out of his way to show some love to his former teammate and the guy he wanted the Lakers to trade for this season, which surely means nothing:
Kyrie Irving LeBron James pic.twitter.com/RTJpRGXrNr
— Per Sources (@PerSources) April 29, 2023
Irving, of course, has long been connected to the Lakers as a possible free agency target, but the team would have to basically let go of all the free agents on a team that had one of the best records in the Western Conference after being assembled just to be able to afford to offer Irving less than the max in free agency.
A roster of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Irving and a bunch of minimum contracts would certainly seem to just be another (much-better-fitting) version of the Westbrook experiment, but whether the Lakers are able to resist the star-f-ing tendencies ingrained in the organization’s DNA to keep this group rather than chase another All-Star will likely depend on how far this group is able to go in the playoffs.
So do you want Rob Pelinka to keep this group together? Probably best to root for a Game 6 win tonight, then.
You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.
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