Many fans and basketball enthusiasts believed the first mural of LeBron James in Los Angeles was defaced because it referred to him as the King of LA. When a new one was created that placed LeBron looking up to Lakers leaders before him it appeared to be the right move because he has yet to play for the team and would satisfy the fan base. Wrong, it too has been defaced.
ESPN reports the new mural has LeBron in the trademark purple and gold staring up at the pantheon of Lakers stars. Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson ruling over the Great Western Forum and Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant with Larry O’Brien trophies over Staples Center. The image looking as if LeBron is admiring the legends and knows he has work ahead. But for some Lakers fan, it still was too much and they smeared white paint right down the middle of LeBron. The mural was painted by lifelong Lakers fan Gustavo Zermeno, who was helped to fix it by “40 to 50″ other Lakers fans.
I am surprised,” Zermeno told ESPN. “This is the most positive move for the Lakers in the past five or six years. It is really a surprise that people are upset about LeBron. I don’t understand it.”
The mural is near Melrose and Fairfax in Los Angeles and it took five days and 45 hours for completion. Hopefully, Lakers fans, or just someone with some hate in their heart and nothing better to do, will stop the mural and just cheer on good basketball when the season kicks off in October.
