On Tuesday, LeBron James worked out at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley on the north side of Los Angeles. Notre Dame is a Catholic school (like St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, where LeBron starred) and a sports powerhouse. (Its reputation centers more around football and baseball — Giancarlo Stanton is an alum — than basketball.)
On Twitter, LeBron explained that Notre Dame opened its doors to him because he needed a place to work out after a full day shooting ads in L.A.
Imagine @KingJames showing up to your high school gym unannounced. pic.twitter.com/1BwV5pH7hy
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) September 13, 2017
This is a likely story! (LeBron needs to send some Blaze Pizza over to the faculty whose meeting you crashed, though.)
However, rumors are rampant that LeBron may be interested in joining the L.A. Lakers as a free agent in 2018. It appears LeBron’s wife Savannah Brinson joined LeBron on campus. LeBron has also recently worked out at UCLA (which, one assumes, has more advanced facilities than a high school) and the city isn’t exactly devoid of gym spaces. In fact, one imagines that LeBron has suitable workout facilities at his 9,350-square-foot home in Brentwood!
As such, many people are wondering if instead of a workout, LeBron and Savannah went to Notre Dame to scout it as a potential destination for their children. That includes future NBA MVP LeBron Jr., who will enter high school in a couple years.
Maybe yes, maybe no. But the possibility exists. And because the possibility exists, and because everyone is so plugged into the situation at hand, and because it would be a league-shaking event if LeBron left Cleveland again, and because the vast Lakers fandom is amped over the team’s new era, this is important.
If you’re into this kind of thing — the amateur P.I. work, the conspiracy theories, the Instagram stalking — you’re going to have a massively fun year watching LeBron. If you’re not into this stuff, or if you’re a Cavaliers fan, this season is going to be complete torture.
This is only the beginning. It’s just one data point in a case where we’re going to have a thousand before July 1, 2018. Buckle up: The year of L.A.Bron is upon us.