The Lakers entered their contest against the Warriors at a low point in the season. They had lost their last three games, doing so in a variety of blowout defeats and poor performances.
And with stories around the team surrounding topics such as Deandre Ayton being unhappy about his role and LA’s offensive struggles, the vibes were down.
So, who stepped up to change the vibes? Zhuri James.
The daughter of LeBron James made her first-ever road trip with her father, joining her dad in Northern California.
She wasn’t just in the stands rooting for her father, either. Pregame, she stepped onto the court and was hitting trick shots and throwing lobs to her dad.
Hopefully, Austin Reaves was watching and taking notes.
Once the game started, LA rolled. They led by 30 points at halftime and cruised to a 129-101 victory. After the game, LeBron joked about Zhuri’s role in the win.
It seems you can add Zhuri to the list of kids who have helped teams win games.
DeMar DeRozan’s daughter Diar DeRozan is one of the most infamous examples. When her dad played for the Bulls, she was hollering during every Raptors free throw attempt in their play-in game. This resulted in the Raptors shooting 50% from the charity stripe and Chicago winning.
Though I’m not sure how much we can credit Zhuri for this win considering the Warriors don’t have their stars in Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry.
This late into the season, whoever wants credit for a win can take it, so let’s give it to Zhuri. At this point, any feel-good stories coming out of this Lakers team are welcome.
Perhaps, if the Lakers make the playoffs, she can attend those games and serve as a morale boost for the purple and gold.
For now, we’ll settle for her following the James family tradition of beating the Warriors when they aren’t a stacked super team.
Zhuri having fun on the court and just being a regular kid had everyone smiling, and it’s a reminder that, at the end of the day, this is just basketball.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
