It’s been 10 days since LeBron James decided he would leave the Cavaliers for the Lakers, agreeing to a four-year max deal in L.A. that he officially signed earlier this week.
Since then, the Lakers have signed quite the interesting cast of veterans to fill the empty roster spots around LeBron and there’s been plenty of chatter about how well that group will fit with James in his first season with the Lakers. We won’t know the answer to that for some time, but James himself seems to be getting the hang of this L.A. thing already.
On Monday, James teased that he would be dropping by the Blaze Pizza location in Culver City for a pizza party celebrating his joining the Lakers. Naturally, it blew up on Twitter and fans marked their calendars to head over to hopefully meet the King for some ‘za.
Haven’t been to a pizza party in a minute 🤔 Culver City? 👀🍕 https://t.co/1QxgALyekK
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 9, 2018
So on Tuesday afternoon, there were hundreds of Lakers fans ready to meet LeBron at the Culver City Blaze Pizza, braving the heat to get some pizza with LeBron. However, James never confirmed his arrival and neither did Blaze Pizza, so as time went on, people started to wonder if James would ever show, as documented by Bleacher Report’s Dave Schilling, The Athletic’s Joe Lago, and the Ringer’s Danny Heifetz.
We’ll start at the beginning, where there was optimism abound at the prospect of James’ arrival.
An hour before @KingJames is set to show up to @BlazePizza event, the line wraps around the corner, through the parking lot, and all the way down the block. Unsure if people are here to meet LeBron or for the free pizza. Will update. pic.twitter.com/PK67xAYnTl
— Danny Heifetz (@Danny_Heifetz) July 10, 2018
Line now wraps around three city blocks, close to snaking back to where it starts. pic.twitter.com/1IGIy68jaY
— Danny Heifetz (@Danny_Heifetz) July 10, 2018
It’s not about the free pizza anymore. It’s about seeing LeBron. pic.twitter.com/PzLGgFg9du
— Joe Lago (@joelago) July 10, 2018
Elise and Rick Wetzel, founders of @BlazePizza, are ready to welcome LeBron to L.A. pic.twitter.com/nE1eTEJPe5
— Joe Lago (@joelago) July 10, 2018
https://twitter.com/dave_schilling/status/1016791621789073408
https://twitter.com/dave_schilling/status/1016803203378057216
“We don’t know if it’s happening or if it’s not” Blaze corporate employee says about LeBron showing up. Meanwhile there are hundreds of people in the parking lot surrounded by thousands of fans around the block. He’s coming.
— Danny Heifetz (@Danny_Heifetz) July 10, 2018
The mood began to turn as the hours wore on without the King’s arrival.
People thought LeBron would be here by 2:30. It’s 4:00 now. The Blaze CMO is unsure if LeBron is coming. Morale is low.
— Danny Heifetz (@Danny_Heifetz) July 10, 2018
It’s 4:21 p.m. Still no LeBron. People are offering cash for portable chargers and debating if it’s worth going to Chipotle. Children, once jubilantly dribbling basketballs, are now unmistakably glum.
— Danny Heifetz (@Danny_Heifetz) July 10, 2018
There was even a moment where the crowd thought he had arrived, only to find that it was just some rich guy with a nice car and not LeBron.
LeBron https://t.co/3sHQbjTmjC
— Joe Lago (@joelago) July 10, 2018
False alarm. People saw two nice cars and ran toward them thinking it was LeBron. https://t.co/LowZFeusRm
— Joe Lago (@joelago) July 10, 2018
“He’s here.”
(This was a false alarm but everyone ran over anyway.) pic.twitter.com/XWpOkSA4rr
— Danny Heifetz (@Danny_Heifetz) July 10, 2018
It’s 5:00. The free pizza event at @BlazePizza is over. LeBron is not here. The “line” has turned into a mob around the front door. People are hungry. People are upset. People are asking, “Why?”
— Danny Heifetz (@Danny_Heifetz) July 10, 2018
Eventually, it was confirmed that James would not be there, five hours after it all began.
LeBron will not be showing up for the Blaze Pizza party here, an employee just announced.
— Joe Lago (@joelago) July 11, 2018
It’s unfortunate, obviously, for those that camped out in hopes of seeing LeBron, but also unmistakably funny and extremely L.A. of him to make plans then not show without telling anyone. He’s going to fit in just fine.
As for what James was doing during all this, according to his wife Savannah’s Instagram account, my man was lounging in a donut pool float.
