Mayor Eric Garcetti praised his city’s latest acquisition, although fans a few blocks from city hall left the store attached to Staples Center minus a token of LeBron James’ arrival on Monday.
“Los Angeles is the world’s greatest sports town — where we measure success in championship banners, where we build statues to honor the greats, and where there are already many Laker legends among the best to ever play basketball,” Garcetti said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. “I couldn’t be prouder of this team. LeBron, you made the right decision. Welcome to L.A.”
A couple left the Team LA store without the James No. 23 Los Angeles Lakers jersey they both coveted Monday afternoon.
“I’m very disappointed,” Jhonnatan Orozco said. “I guess with the turnaround time, they couldn’t do it that quick.”
Dozens of people filed in and out of this store Monday seeking James jerseys, although, technically, they can’t be sold yet. James hasn’t officially been signed by the Lakers, even through James and the Lakers agreed to a four year, $154 million contract on Sunday.
That hasn’t stopped James jersey pre-orders online, which began to roll in minutes after his Lakers deal was announced Sunday.
In a three-hour span (9 p.m. to midnight ET), LeBron’s Lakers jersey on Fanatics.com and the NBA's official online store run by Fanatics made it into the top 10 of single-day NBA jersey sales since numbers began to be tracked a decade ago.
That three-hour window also outpaced James’ return to Cleveland four years ago by 600%, according to a Fanatics spokesperson.
Los Angeles was the top market, understandably, for James jersey pre-sales on Fanatics, which began selling the jersey with a double zero. (It was announced Monday that James would stick his usual No. 23 when he begins his Lakers career.) New York, the San Francisco Bay Area and Cleveland rounded out the early James jersey orders.
Fanatics can make the jerseys before Friday, although the company – and authorized retailers – can't sell them until the deal becomes official, meaning it will be a little more of a wait for people like Orozco and his girlfriend, Sandra Rico.
“I’m going to get a home jersey,” said Rico, whose favorite jersey she currently owns is a No. 24 Kobe Bryant.
