It appears LeBron James is not too fond of the City Beautiful.
After his experience last summer in the NBA restart at Disney World, James said he won’t be putting on a Magic uniform any time soon.
Well, never to be exact.
The Los Angeles Lakers All-Star forward said during an episode of HBO’s “The Shop: Uninterrupted” that he would walk away from basketball rather than play for the Magic if he were traded to Orlando.
“The Shop” stars James and businessman Maverick Carter, who alongside guests have conversations and debates in a barbershop.
Music mogul Jay-Z, rapper, singer and songwriter Bad Bunny, WNBA star Nneka Ogwumike and marketing executive Paul Rivera, who created the show, joined James and Carter for the premier episode of Season 4. It aired Friday.
After a segment where Bad Bunny talked about his recent experience of moving to Orlando to train for his pro wrestling debut in WrestleMania 37, James chimed in about the City Beautiful.
While he admitted that Orlando is not in his future, James also joked that he hasn’t taken his young daughter to Disney World because of his experience in the NBA bubble.
“You’ve got to understand, anytime I hear Orlando right now I get PTSD,” James said in reference to spending nearly 3½ months at Disney as the Lakers captured the NBA championship.
The comment drew laughter from the group.
Carter: “Orlando has no chance of free agency?”
James: “They have no chance.”
Carter: “What if you get traded to Orlando?”
James: “I’m not going. I’ll just retire.
“Bron’s been traded to Orlando, but LeBron lives in Malibu...He’s not going.”
The viral clip was tweeted out by the show with a message that read: “Sorry, Orlando… it’s nothing personal,” along with a laughing emoji and a crown.
The Magic’s official Twitter account had some fun with the “nothing personal” tweet by responding with a meme of Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan saying, " …and I took that personally,” from “The Last Dance” documentary.
Needless to say, Magic fans found it in their hearts to…well, respond.
@beyondtheRK got the ball rolling with a tweet about Magic playoff history. When Orlando beat Cleveland in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals, it prevented an NBA Finals matchup between James and Kobe Bryant, whose Lakers won the West. The Magic also are the last team to have beaten a James-led team in a conference championship series.
The tweet reads: “on this day in Orlando Magic history, Dwight Howard knocks out LeBron James in a close-out Game 6 while dropping this state-line:
40 PTS
14 REB
4 AST
1 BLK
71% TS%
nothing personal.”
@SoitbeDajman suggested the playoff loss is really why James dislikes Orlando, while @tmacbiggestfan replied: “I love this greatest moment in orlando magic history beating the so called king.”
James, of course, has been a part of four NBA championship teams — twice with the Heat and once with both the Cavaliers and Lakers.
Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons, a Central Florida native and Edgewater High alum, stood up for Orlando.
“Damn I feel attacked...it’s a great city man,” he tweeted on Saturday.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer wants James to give his city a second chance. Dyer extended an olive branch to James, writing in a tweet that the two should grab a bite to eat the next time James is in town.
”I’m certain that you didn’t experience the other half of Orlando during your time in the bubble last summer, @KingJames,” Dyer wrote. “Next time you’re here, let’s go out for lunch.
“You’ll see that our community is diverse, inclusive and vibrant.”
James and the Lakers are trying to repeat as NBA champions for the fifth time in franchise history. They currently lead the Suns 2-1 in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series, with Game 4 set for Sunday in Los Angeles.
