Why hasn’t LeBron James texted DeAndre Ayton? The #1 draft pick in Luka Doncic’s 2018 class, who joined the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month, went on ESPN and revealed that he has yet to have a conversation with James.
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Now, Ayton does understand that people can be busy training and spending time with their families. However, the fact that James hasn’t spoken to him has stirred up quite a bit of conversation on NBA social media pages.
Much like everything James does, this too has come under severe criticism from certain sections of the fans. Hall of Famer, Paul Pierce, self-proclaimed rival to James, has, meanwhile, spoken in support of the Lakers’ legend.
Pierce stated that since this might be James’ last season ever, he might not be too inclined to push beyond on-court performances.
Another one of LeBron’s frenemies, Kendrick Perkins, was far more direct in his approach toward the whole controversy. He implied that this was a juvenile conversation.
“He doesn’t have to. Why the f*** he’s got to reach to DeAndre Ayton?” the Boston Celtics legend asked on the Road Tripping podcast. Joining him in chorus were Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, LeBron’s former teammates from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“He didn’t text me when I got traded there,” Frye added, to which, Jefferson quickly revealed, “He didn’t text me either!”
Jefferson then quickly moved on to the conversation he had with LeBron before Frye joined the Cavaliers in 2016. “Bron asked me a day before. He goes, ‘Hey, Rich, man. What do you think about Channing Frye?’ I was like, ‘You are going to f***** hate him and you are going to f****** love him. Just wait’,” he said.
The panel soon moved on to talk about the rivalries they had with their teammates. This allowed Perkins to shoot at his former Boston Celtics teammate, Kevin Garnett.
“It happened like that with me and KG [Kevin Garnett]. We couldn’t stand each other. We met in the back … We got there right after Labor Day,” revealed Perkins.
“So, we were doing open runs because we were going overseas the first year we got together. We were going to Rome for three weeks. In the locker room, in the gym, Kevin and I didn’t say a word to each other,” he added.
Perkins talked about how while the pair were on speaking terms, Garnett wasn’t vibing with his energy. But all that changed during their first pre-season game.
“So, we get to our first game and we come together and it’s us two vs Chris Bosh and [Andre] Bargnani. We win the game, I had my first pre-season game with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and he was like, ‘Now, rock them with your m*********** a**‘,” said Perkins.
“And ever since then, we were cool. But it took us getting into the battle of things for him to come around,” he asserted. Perkins and Garnett went on to lift the NBA championships in 2008.
Getting back to LeBron and Ayton, Perkins is right. It is pointless and premature to speculate about the relationship between LeBron and Ayton at this point.
