Raptors drop fourth straight but gain valuable experience against Lakers’ stars

On Nov 2, 2024

TORONTO — Ja’Kobe Walter has met LeBron James earlier than.

The 20-year-old from Dallas, Texas, performed youth basketball for a time with Bronny James, the son of the NBA’s all-time scoring chief, on a crew known as the Gulf Coast Blue Chips. Walter was in fifth grade.

“Growing up, I’ve been around him all my life, we’re the same age,” stated Walter of James’ son “We have a good relationship. When we see each other, we’ll say, ‘What’s up?’ but on the court, there’s no friends.”

And as for assembly LeBron?

“He’s just a normal Dad, honestly,” stated Walter.

He’s not a traditional Dad anymore. When the Raptors took Walter 19^th total within the 2024 draft, LeBron James — and Bronny James, taken 55^th in the identical draft — turned each his co-workers and rivals. They’re now his companions within the leisure product that’s the NBA and rivals on the ground, no less than in concept.

Your first NBA recreation is at all times memorable, but having it come against an NBA icon and his son — who you performed with rising up — makes it particularly so.

“It’s like a fairytale situation,” Walter stated in regards to the prospect of beginning his NBA profession against the Los Angeles Lakers and James, who stays probably the most well-known athlete within the sport and past as he rolls by his 22^nd season, exhibiting no indicators of slowing in any vital method as he approaches his 40^th birthday.

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“I’ve been watching (LeBron) all my life. But I’m going to be prepared to do what my team needs me to do and do whatever I can do to get a win.”

Walter did his finest in his first recreation again after lacking all of coaching camp and the beginning of the season so far with a shoulder harm, but there was no win available Friday night time for the Raptors.

James and the Lakers made their annual go to to Toronto and left with a 131-125 victory that was a blowout for many of three quarters earlier than the Raptors clawed again sufficient to make it no less than a bit of fascinating down the stretch. In any other case, the elder James’ prophesy as he arrived at Scotiabank Area sporting a ghost masks from the horror movie Scream, the heading on his publish to his 159 million Instagram followers studying ‘Live from LeBronto,’ got here true with out a lot drama.

Who is aware of if this would be the final recreation James performs at Scotiabank Area at his age and at this stage, but this stuff can’t be taken as a right.

The legend performed the half, ending with 27 factors and 10 assists in 36 minutes. He was helped by Anthony Davis, who the Raptors had no reply for on his technique to 38 factors, 12 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Toronto made it fascinating thanks to 2 extra spectacular video games from Gradey Dick and RJ Barrett. Dick hit a brand new profession excessive for the third time in 4 begins as he continues to point out indicators of a breakout second season. The 20-year-old scored 31 factors (13-of-26 from the ground, 5-of-11 from three) and grabbed seven rebounds in 32 minutes, whereas Barrett had a career-high 12 assists to go together with 33 factors and 5 rebounds in 32 minutes.

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“I’m just trying to play the right way, man, trying to win these games,” stated Barrett, who has had 23 assists in three video games since getting back from a shoulder harm that saved him out for practically the entire pre-season and the primary three video games of the common season.

It was the Raptors’ fourth straight loss as they fell to 1-5 to begin the season with extra challenges forward of them. Nonetheless, for Walter and the Raptors’ core of rookies, who’ve been logging heavy minutes whereas ready for some regulars to return from harm, it was possible an unforgettable recreation: their first time going through LeBron.

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“I mean he’s somebody I’ve watched my whole entire life,” stated Raptors first-year guard Jamal Shead, who discovered himself on the ground with James with 2:28 left within the first quarter. “I was born in 2002, and he was drafted in 2003, so pretty much everything that I’ve seen about basketball and the NBA is LeBron. So that was pretty cool, being up with him. I wish we got the dub, but it’s pretty cool matching up with a legend and a player of his calibre.”

Jonathan Mogbo was matched up immediately against James greater than any of the opposite Raptors rookies, which is smart, given the Raptors’ different first-year gamers are smaller guards and wings.

“I did a pretty good job, but I slipped up on one possession, where I jumped first. You have to be the second jumper,” stated Mogbo, referring to a possession early within the fourth quarter the place he guarded James nicely in isolation but fouled the Lakers star after he pump-faked.

“He knows the game, but there’s no excuse. You’ve got to stay down and compete. At the end of the day, you’re competing. As a kid, you grow up, you see him playing and everything, so being in the game is different. But you have to stay humble, stay focused, and you have to compete. I feel we did a great job, and I did a great job of that.”

It took the Raptors some time to get on observe.

The early going went as may need been anticipated. James was anchoring the Lakers’ bench unit against a Raptors group that featured Barrett and three and — at one level — 4 rookies. The Lakers had been already up by 20 when James checked in with 2:28 left within the interval and completed the quarter main by 24 when James hit his third triple of the interval simply earlier than the horn.

However the Raptors didn’t keep starstruck for lengthy. They started their lengthy climb again into the sport by holding their very own against James and the Lakers’ bench early within the second quarter.

Walter obtained his first NBA bucket when fellow rookie Mogbo faked a dribble handoff to him after which discovered him when Walter rubbed his defender off on Mogbo’s display, with Walter scoring on the lay-up. A second later, the rookie from Baylor sprinted the ground and blocked Lakers ahead Rui Hachimura in transition, resulting in a Barrett basket on the different finish. It was a tricky capturing night time for Walter — he completed 1-of-8 from the ground and 0-of-3 from deep — but he obtained to the road twice, made all of his free throws and dove on a free ball below the Lakers’ basket and shovelled it to Ochai Agbaji for the straightforward rating and his first NBA help.

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Mogbo had his second making an attempt to lock up James in isolation. Shead had a spotlight when he picked the pocket of Davis — the Lakers’ different hall-of-fame sure star — and took it the opposite method for a tippy-toe dunk.

“He’s the greatest player of all time,” stated Walter. “It hit me in warm-ups. I looked over, and I was like, ‘That’s LeBron’, but when were on the court, he was just an opponent to me.”

Rajakovic made some extent of getting his rookies minutes against the Lakers’ stars. How else are they going to study?

“They need to have these experiences to play against those guys,” stated Rajakovic of his rookie’s trial by hearth. “The first quarter, they looked a little bit starstruck but we were able to wake up from that and play a very good game from that point.”

Walter did get an opportunity to meet up with Bronny James — who solely performed the ultimate seven seconds of the sport — but didn’t alternate any greetings along with his well-known Dad.

“I don’t think he remembered me,” stated Walter. “I was super young (when they met previously).”

On this, Walter was incorrect. “Ja’Kobe Walter? Yeah, he’s the same class as Bronny,” stated James after the sport. “I knew that for sure. I watched him at Baylor, and I watch all levels of basketball, so I know a lot of these kids,”

But now LeBron James is aware of the Raptors rookies not as youngsters but as rivals and vice versa. For the Raptors’ rookies, it’s one other step in changing into NBA gamers, somewhat than gamers who made it to the NBA.

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