FOR someone who has known LeBron James for so long, Romeo Travis believes the coming NBA season will be a big turnaround for the Los Angeles Lakers with LBJ on board.
The Magnolia Pambansang Manok import is happy to see his former high school teammate at St. Vincent-St Mary in Ohio sign on to turn around a proud franchise that hasn't made the playoffs in five seasons.
“I think it’s going to be a good situation, they’re going to surprise a lot of people with that roster because they’re going to give a lot of people defensive problems,” Travis observed.
“They have a high-grade lineup, and LeBron at the ‘5,’ that’s just scary.”
The Lakers have no solid big man at the middle, but are stacked at the backcourt and the wings with James, Rajon Rondo, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and Lonzo Ball, to go along with veteran acquisitions Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson.
Travis, the former best import who is back for his second tour of duty in the PBA Governors Cup, said he always remained in contact with James, the four-time MVP and arguably considered the greatest player of all time, even while he’s been playing mostly overseas all these time.
“We’re still friends. We’re in a group chat, we text all the time in the group chat, and he sends funny videos,” said of the 33-year-old three-time NBA champion.
He admitted not being shocked by his high school pal’s decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time in his career in favor of La La Land.
“I wasn’t surprised at all. I heard about it since January, so it was like depending on how the season ends. So I wasn’t surprised at all,” said Travis.
The season ended with the Cavaliers getting swept by reigning champions Golden State Warriors.
Like James, Travis is also seeking to help the Hotshots turn their fortunes around in the season-ending conference after being eliminated early in the Commissioner’s Cup playoffs.
He already set the tone towards that direction when he came through with 21 points and 13 rebounds in the team’s 102-72 blowout of NLEX Road Warriors in its first game Wednesday night.
“We executed and played great defense since that’s what coach Chito talks about every day, defense,” he said.
But Travis, who’s been a naturalized player for the Macedonian national team, said it would take more than just his effort for Magnolia to become successful.
“I just want to help the team. I don’t want to take over the team. I just want to be a part of the team,” he said of his team-concept mentality.
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