LeBron James, Russell Westbrook don't meet while attending same Vegas Summer League game

With the Lakers engaged in trade talks with the Brooklyn Nets and the Indiana Pacers in the last week — with sources telling ESPN that both scenarios involve sending Westbrook out — the positioning of James and Westbrook was notable. Several other Lakers players in attendance — Talen Horton-Tucker, Wenyen Gabriel and Thomas Bryant — made their way to James. But James and Westbrook stayed in their respective corners, with Westbrook exiting at halftime out of one tunnel and James leaving after the third quarter out of another.
Source: Dave McMenamin @ ESPN

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Kyle Goon @kylegoon
Reporting from Las Vegas Summer League, where LeBron James and Russell Westbrook went to the same Lakers game but sat on opposite ends and did not approach each other while the public’s eyes were on them: ocregister.com/2022/07/08/lak… – 1:03 AM Duane Rankin @DuaneRankin
#Suns up 91-71 with 6:10 left in the fourth. They’ve been in command all second half.
Don’t see LeBron sitting baseline anymore, but Jones is still courtside. #Lakers – 12:10 AM Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
LeBron James and Thomas Bryant pic.twitter.com/yxU5rZ9rde – 11:26 PM Duane Rankin @DuaneRankin
Was expecting Louis King to play well. Has 10 points.
Looking to see Ish Wainright score the ball a little bit.
Has four.
Scottie Pippen Jr. just scored and fell right beside LeBron on the baseline.
#Suns up 42-35 with 2:56 left in the half. #NBASummerLeague – 11:15 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
LeBron leapt out of his seat to hoist up Scotty Pippen Jr. after he spilled out baseline on the layup. – 11:14 PM Kamenetzky Brothers @KamBrothers
LeBron brought his own snacks to Summer League. AK pic.twitter.com/3OhLj9kkuf – 11:03 PM Dave McMenamin @mcten
Darvin Ham and Rob Pelinka walked over from their halfcourt seats for a quick baseline chat with LeBron James in between the first and second quarters. pic.twitter.com/yA07EpdprA – 10:58 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
Darvin, Rob and LeBron at the first quarter break. pic.twitter.com/HDNo5PrZ8x – 10:57 PM Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Darvin Ham, LeBron James and Rob Pelinka pic.twitter.com/ZWPsPOV7Ei – 10:56 PM Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Russell Westbrook is here and sitting on the Lakers’ bench pic.twitter.com/yaL8CtoFtH – 10:46 PM Gerald Bourguet @GeraldBourguet
James Jones and LeBron James courtside before Suns-Lakers at Summer League pic.twitter.com/B1nXPLG3gQ – 10:29 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
Having a mini Heat reunion with James Jones, Jerry Stackhouse and LeBron slapping backs courtside. – 10:28 PM Tim Reynolds @ByTimReynolds
LeBron has arrived at Summer League, 12 years to the day after he announced that he would be taking his talents to … well, you know. – 10:28 PM Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
LeBron James and Kurt Rambis pregame pic.twitter.com/lSvf5aZyxC – 10:27 PM Ben Golliver @BenGolliver
Lakers’ LeBron James x Jerry Stackhouse pic.twitter.com/0p9Yrp7pzA – 10:25 PM Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
LeBron James pulled up to Las Vegas Summer League ahead of the Lakers-Suns game pic.twitter.com/OUY4SIWgf9 – 10:24 PM Ben Golliver @BenGolliver
LeBron James rolls up to Lakers’ Las Vegas Summer League debut pic.twitter.com/RDyWVgMfvj – 10:24 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
LeBron is here in Vegas. Had a little pregame chat with Knicks president (and his former agent) Leon Rose and settling in for the Lakers game coming up. pic.twitter.com/9nVrd3qkwl – 10:23 PM Duane Rankin @DuaneRankin
LeBron is here. #Suns #Lakers #NBA2K23SummerLeague – 10:23 PM Dave McMenamin @mcten
LeBron James is in the building for Lakers-Suns in Vegas pic.twitter.com/9KlWlLt44M – 10:22 PM Sam Smith @SamSmithHoops
Marko with an offense rebound on miss with 0.7 left for free throws and the Bulls 100-99 win! There’s MJ, LeBron, Wilt, Dr. J, Kobe, Kareem, Magic, all the one name players. And now Marko with 27 and 13 as Bulls move on – 6:13 PM Jason Anderson @JandersonSacBee
Malik Monk on Michael Jordan/LeBron James: “Lifechanging experiences from both aspects. With Jordan being the owner, I’ve seen things from that side, and with LeBron being a player, I’ve seen things from his side, so I had a lot of lifechanging experiences with those guys.” – 5:45 PM Kamenetzky Brothers @KamBrothers
For the sickos who like to watch, Friday’s @LockedOnLakers podcast, YouTube version. We react to a Darvin Ham interview about Russ starting, AD as the key to everything for the Lakers, LeBron, and more. @LockedOnNetwork @LockedOnNBAPods
youtu.be/KmcaJaEMzkY?t=… – 4:51 PM Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
📅 On this day in 2010, LeBron James announced he was taking his talents to South Beach. His stats before/after “The Decision”:
GP – 548 / 818
PPG – 27.8 / 26.7
RPG – 7.0 / 7.8
APG – 7.0 / 7.6
SPG – 1.7 / 1.4
BPG – 0.9 / 0.7
FG% – 47.5 / 52.7
3P% – 32.9 / 35.6
FT% – 74.2 / 72.7 pic.twitter.com/IRupFWOvVP – 10:01 AM StatMuse @statmuse
LeBron stats by team
Cavs (1st stint):
28/7/7
56 TS%
Heat:
27/8/7
62 TS%
Cavs (2nd stint):
26/8/8
60 TS%
Lakers:
27/8/8
60 TS%
His prime has lasted for 20 years. pic.twitter.com/OX5nTIFX39 – 9:40 AM Eric Pincus @EricPincus
Latest @BleacherReport San Antonio Spurs May Hold Keys to a Kyrie Irving-Russell Westbrook Trade bleacherreport.com/articles/10041… – 3:07 AM Marc J. Spears @MarcJSpears
“I got a wholehearted plan, a clear plan on how I’m going to use him. I showed it to him, sat down, brought stuff up for him. I think he’s going to flourish,” new #Lakers coach Darvin Ham on Russell Westbrook. Ham also answers whether Russ will start. bit.ly/3nInkUf #nba – 10:26 AM Marc J. Spears @MarcJSpears
Darvin Ham is bringing his philosophy and a Saginaw toughness to the #Lakers. Former NBA player talks to @andscape about his long road to becoming a head coach, the challenge of coaching LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis, and more. bit.ly/3nInkUf #nba – 8:44 AM

More on this storyline

According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, some members in the organization prefer trading for Indiana Pacers veterans Myles Turner and Buddy Hield instead (via “The Athletic NBA Show”): “There’s a stalemate right now, really between multiple teams. The league is kinda in a gridlock right now with this whole Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving situation. I think particularly for the Lakers with Russ and Kyrie, from what I’ve heard the Nets’ plan right now is to move KD first before moving Kyrie, so I don’t think you’re going to see a Kyrie deal happen until KD gets moved. “On top of that, they don’t want to take back Russell Westbrook, and they want at least one pick back. The Lakers have been hesitant to give up that draft capital… I know that they’ve looked around at Indiana. ‘Can we get a Myles Turner and a Buddy Hield?’” -via Silverscreenandroll.com / July 9, 2022 The Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers have held preliminary discussions on a Kyrie Irving trade, and sources indicate the teams are exploring the potential of pulling the San Antonio Spurs into a multi-team deal. -via Bleacher Report / July 8, 2022 The Lakers, who sources indicated are interested in moving out of Russell Westbrook into Irving, may need to be patient. Westbrook’s $47.1 million expiring contract isn’t appealing to the Nets, who currently project to be above the league’s $150.3 million luxury tax threshold. -via Bleacher Report / July 8, 2022