LeBron James Turns Toronto Faithful in Showing of How Much Raptors Have Changed

Scotiabank Arena turned into LeBron James mania Tuesday night while the Los Angeles Lakers easily cruised past the Toronto Raptors

Apr 2, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) shoots the ball at / Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s just say, 2018 seems like an eternity ago.

Toronto once hated LeBron James. He was the persona non grata in the city. For good reason too. When he showed up, bad things typically happened for the Toronto Raptors.

Oh, how times have changed.

James has managed to become a fan-favorite in Toronto. His jerseys dotted the stands in every version Tuesday night: Cavaliers maroon, Heat red, yellow, purple, and blue for the Lakers, and even a Looney Tunes jersey was seen sitting courtside. Frankly, the cheering for James during pre-game introductions was on par with that of any Raptors player.

"That’s the mutual respect and love every time I come here," James said of his reception. "Throughout my career, they’ve showed me nothing but love. Even throughout the battles in the post-season, whatever the case may be, these fans are always appreciative of myself and I just try to always give it back to them when I step out on the floor."

The difference, though, was how James on Tuesday night.

It’s no knock on the 39-year-old superstar who is still among the league’s very best. When he turns it on, there are few players better. But a 128-111 victory over this version of the Raptors might as well have been spring training for James.

The Raptors were essentially the Washington Generals for James.

He opened the game by volleyball bumping the opening tip-off back to D’Angelo Russell before skipping up the court. Then came the onslaught of alley-oops he threw to Anthony Davis that Toronto simply had no answers for.

In Toronto’s defense, what were the Raptors to do?

This team as currently constructed has little to no size and asking RJ Barrett to take on the James assignment in his first game back following a nine-game absence seemed like some cruel and unusual punishment.

James just toyed with Toronto.

He strangely settled for a turnaround jumper over Barrett that he missed then settled for another short jumper over Kelly Olynyk before he must have remembered he’s LeBron James. Thirty seconds later he drove right past both Barrett and Olynyk to finish a reverse layup with the kind of flair that the fans had been waiting to see.

One fan sitting behind Toronto’s bench held a sign saying he’d flown 8,000 miles to see James and the Lakers.

Was it worth it?

Depends how you look at it.

This wasn’t some spectacular awe-inspiring performance from James who still managed to rack up 23 points on 10-for-12 shooting with a game-high nine assists in 29 minutes. But James has already begun wondering aloud about his future in the league and it’s fair to say the end is coming. At the very least, games in Toronto are no sure thing for James who has played in Scotiabank Arena just twice since 2020.

"He's just so elite. It's amazing to see a player at this age, after 20 years in NBA to play at this high a level," Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. "We gotta really embrace this moment and to be grateful that we're living in (the) era of LeBron James."

For Gradey Dick, that's quite literally the case. The Raptors rookie was born 12 games into James' rookie season.

"He's a role model. He's honestly the reason I started playing basketball, except for my family," Dick said following his first game against James. "As a rookie coming in was definitely crazy to see but, yeah, like I said, when I grew up watching him and had all his jersey stuff like that, you know, I see him warming up, oh, it's just kind of like, you know, I'm here and yeah, it's crazy."

Dick did beat James once, cutting in front of him before nailing a short mid-range jumper over James' outstretched arms.

"It was sweet," Dick said with a smile. "I just talked to my brother about it. That was the first thing that they thought. ... But yeah, it's just it's a dream come true playing these guys night in night out, but when you've got a guy that's arguably the greatest player of all time, it's hard enough to get excited to play basketball."

The Raptors hung around with Los Angeles for most of the first half thanks to the return of Barrett and Immanuel Quickley who kept the offense humming for the first time in weeks. Quickley nailed a trio of three-pointers before the break en route to a 20-point showing.

Barrett did his best to keep even with his Lakers counterpart, leading Toronto with 28 points on 11-for-18 shooting with six assists. He threw down a James-esque dunk in transition just before the third-quarter buzzer sounded.

But Toronto’s lack of depth these days proved too much for the Raptors to overcome. The second unit scored a combined seven points before garbage time, and it wasn’t long into the second half before a 15-2 run by the Lakers put the Raptors in a 20-point third-quarter hole.

Maybe this is what everyone wanted.

Raptors fans began filing out of the arena midway through the fourth theoretically content that another loss had moved them two games up on the Memphis Grizzlies for the sixth-worst record in the NBA.

The James fans got another look at arguably the greatest of all time having some fun. It won’t go down as one of the greatest games James has had in Toronto but at this stage in his career, any opportunity to see the King is worth a watch.

Up Next: Minnesota Timberwolves

The Raptors will have a quick turnaround with the Minnesota Timberwolves waiting Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET. Don’t be surprised if Barrett and Quickley get the night off in what’ll likely be another tough one for Toronto.