LeBron James will headline a star-studded group of NBA players set to participate in pro-am event that will pit professional players against amateurs in a Seattle gym.
The Los Angeles Lakers icon leads a list of players set to participate in The CrawsOver, a pro-am game organised by former NBA All-Star Jamal Crawford. James will be joined by veteran players Jayson Tatum, Dejounte Murray, Isaiah Thomas and Aaron Gordon as well as rookie Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Tari Eason and MarJon Beauchamp.
It is remarkable for the city of Seattle that such an event is set to take place given the population have been yearning for professional basketball ever since the Seattle Supersonics franchise moved to Oklahoma City and rebranded as the Thunder.
Hundreds of overnight campers bunkered outside Seattle Pacific University’s Royal Brougham Pavilion on Friday night. The line ran from the pavilion’s main doors and reportedly snaked down several blocks.
The queuing began in the afternoon after Crawford - dubbed the ‘Godfather of Seattle Basketball’ - announced that James was returning to Seattle to play basketball for the first time in 15 years. He took to Twitter to write: “I thought it was gonna be a movie… now it’s HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will be a day like we’ve NEVER SEEN @KingJames WILL BE PLAYING!! It’s O-V-E-R”
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The rowdy crowd were hopeful and ready to rekindle the city’s 41-year relationship in the NBA that ended in 2008 when then-commissioner David Stern signed off on the Sonics’ move to Oklahoma. Seattle basketball fans have settled for the WNBA franchise the Storm as well as The CrawsOver’s Pro-Am League, which often features local players over the summer.
Every so often, a professional basketball superstar turns up, such as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in 2013 or Trae Young three weeks ago - but Friday night surpassed such frenzy. After the announcement, James tweeted: “SEATTLE LETS GET IT!! Been over 15+ years since I've been back and played ball! Well the wait is almost over!! The [king] is BACK!"
