The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ latest pitcher swapped the MLB for the NBA on January 21 and even earned the acknowledgement of the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James at the Crypto.com Arena.
As the Californian side prepared to face the Washington Wizards, the four-time basketball champion spotted Roki Sasaki sitting on his own in the prime front-row seats; and in a selfless gesture walked over to greet him.
The 6ft 7in forward, regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time, took the Japanese baseball player by the hand and embraced him. Respectfully, Sasaki rose to his feet as they exchanged warm words and smiled.
LeBron then walked off down the tunnel to continue his pre-game preps whilst the 23-year-old from the Iwate region watched him, appearing to be a bit starstruck by the NBA ace and the moment itself.
Later footage showed James returning to shoot some corner threes as the Dodgers’ latest recruit watched on from the seats behind him, whilst he was also greeted by the Lakers’ Rui Hachimura, who is also from Japan.
Lakers sweep past Wizards
The game turned out to be a positive one for anyone supporting the purple and gold in LA, as the Lakers ran out 111-88 winners against the Wizards; condemning DC-based team to their 36th loss of the season, whilst the hosts rosed up to sixth in the Western Conference.
It was another fine night for LeBron, who recorded a triple-double with 21 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds and his colleague, Anthony Davis, also starred on the night with 29 points, 16 rebounds and five assists.
The Lakers will now next be in action against the defending NBA champions, the Boston Celtics, on Thursday, January 23. The game will be held at the Crypto.com Arena, with tip-off from 22:00 ET/19:00 PT. Fans can catch the game live on TNT Sports, truTV or (HBO) Max.
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