“Kevin Love was one of my favorite guys; one of my brothers,” said LeBron James back in 2018. Through his 2 decade-long NBA career, LeBron James has shared the court with several star athletes. Names like Dwyane Wade, Kyrie Irving, Ray Allen, and Shaquille O’Neal have been all associated with the King at some point in time. However, during his tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers, another player with whom ‘The Chosen One’ became closely attached was Kevin Love. Therefore, the now 36-year-old Center recently just chose to remind the NBA all-time lead scorer of their bond, as the Lakers legend gave a shoutout to his two current teammates.

LeBron James recently took to his official Instagram account to share something for his 159 million followers. It was a picture from the Lakers’ recent game against the Utah Jazz, which also marked Luka Doncic’s debut game with the LA franchise. The trio of the King, Austin Reaves, and Luka Doncic were standing at the center of the court, with the team emblem prominently standing out.

LeBron James wrote a caption alongside the post: “1️⃣5️⃣&7️⃣7️⃣ 🥶 as 🗣️F!!!!!! Lucky Me! 👑”. The post caught the attention of Kevin Love, who commented, “I was a 0️.” A reminder that he was Bron’s teammate before the Slovenian sensation. ‘The Chosen One’ himself replied to Love’s remark by writing, “(Laughing emojis). On your jersey, but goddamn it champ!”

This back and forth came only days after LeBron told Doncic in the huddle, “Luka, be your f—–g self. Don’t fit in, fit the f–k out.” Love reposted this clip and sneakily placed the hashtag, “#LeHurtMyFeelings.”

For those who didn’t understand why, I got your back. LeBron’s advice to Luka was completely contrary to what he said in 2015: “Stop trying to find a way to FIT-OUT and just FIT-IN. Be apart of something special! Just my thoughts.” At the time, Kevin hadn’t appreciated the call-out on social media calling it “extremely passive-aggressive and silly.”

Coming back to the present day, though, fans may not need another reminder of how Luka Doncic came along to don the Purple and Gold colors. After all, the shock of Nico Harrison and Rob Pelinka’s decision to engage in one of the biggest trades would still be fresh in everyone’s minds.

However, the fact that it didn’t take that long for Luka Doncic to make such an impression on LeBron James is a surprise. Maybe it is the Slovenian’s previous progress with the Dallas Mavericks that speaks well in his favor. After all, who wouldn’t want to play alongside the prominent scorer who, along with Kyrie Irving, led the Mavs to the NBA Finals last season?

Alongside Kevin Love, though, it didn’t take long for others to react to LeBron’s post too. However, instead of talking about his Cavaliers ex-teammate, several social media users instead focused on the person the 40-year-old recently lost from LA.

NBA faithful compare LeBron James’ appreciation for Luka Doncic and AD after Kevin Love enters the chat

Amidst the thousands of comments praising LeBron or Luka, one social media user adopted a different take. They wrote, “You ain’t never do this for AD”, accompanied by a crying emoji.

The Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade came as a shock to not only the fans. It shook the players who were quite affected, too. After all, Shams Charania highlighted immediately after the trade: “LeBron James had no idea this was coming. Anthony Davis had no idea this was coming. I’m sure Luka Doncic is still stunned about this trade.”

LeBron James even defended himself against a claim deeming he was responsible for the Lakers cutting ties with the Center by writing “You a fkn lie,” on X. Despite the shock, there is no denying that Bron has settled with his new teammate quickly.

Another individual followed the same belief as the previous commenter. After all, he wrote, “Why you ain’t do this with DLo and AD???”

LeBron James may not have put out a similar post about D’Angelo Russell. However, he did have some kind words to say after the point guard/shooting guard was moved to a bench role. In a statement, the All-Time Scorer had said, “What allowed it to work was the sacrifices that D’Lo and Cam have continued to make, and obviously the biggest sacrifice is D’Lo going to the bench”.

At the same time, though, there’s no denying, through his appreciation for Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the King is unintentionally breaking some ex-teammates’ hearts!

One social media user wrote, “AD never got this much love”, accompanied by a laughing emoji.

Anyone who believes this about LeBron James missed the IG story he put out after AD’s trade. The post highlighted a picture of the duo, with Bron’s back to the camera while he and Davis were embracing each other. The Lakers star added a caption: “Love you my dog!! Go crazy over there! Woe 4L! See you soon”. Does that feel like LeBron not showing some “love” to his former teammate?

One social media user wrote, “Bron really rubbing salt in AD wound”.

Well, indeed, Anthony Davis did not want to be traded. At the same time, however, neither did Luka Doncic. As the Slovenian’s former teammate Chandler Parsons highlighted, Luka was in the process of purchasing a $15M home in Dallas a week before the trade. The same was later confirmed by his business manager, Lara Beth Seager. She highlighted her client was on the hunt since “he expected to spend his career in Dallas.” Despite the unforeseen circumstances, the 25-year-old took the change in his stride. Hopefully, so has AD.

One individual speculated that something afoul had taken place. He/she wrote, “You’re too damn happy, dawg. Chill, else we will start assuming you knew”, accompanied by a laughing emoji. Well, LeBron James did deny doing it. On top of that, Rob Pelinka made it clear during Luka Doncic’s Lakers introductory press conference that the trade idea was Nico Harrison’s. If LeBron was really behind it, then the Mavericks GM is unnecessarily facing all the hate and “FIRE NICO” comments.

Overall, the majority of reactions took a negative stance against LeBron James over his appreciation post. If the All-Time Scorer is praising Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, they better show why they deserve it! The upcoming games will be the ultimate test of whether the Purple and Gold duo deserve to be put on a higher pedestal than Anthony Davis, and even Kevin Love.