Amid the intense playoff battle, LeBron James received a sweet gift from his LA rival. The Los Angeles Lakers are currently in a difficult spot, trying to stop the Denver Nuggets‘ rampage on them. Apart from going 0-2 down in the series, they have to break the 10-game losing streak against them. Amid these testing times, King James received a flashy gift from the LA Clippers star PJ Tucker.

Tucker presented his upcoming collab with Nike Air Flight 89 to the superstar. In response, James took to his IG handle and shared the picture of the sky-blue rocking sneakers along with a flurry of fire emojis. The picture also had a personalized letter to the Akron Hammer that read, “1st PAIR FOR THE KING – PJ,” which also carried a crown drawing on the side.

This collaboration isn’t just like any other collab but a special one to honor the iconic Air Flight 89 sneaker that rocked the NBA and the fashion world in the 90s. These iconic sneakers were donned by the Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen during their run to build the Bulls dynasty.

While the original version was dominant on white, Tucker’s version has a sky-blue twist to it. It also has another tribute to Air Jordan. MJ arguably holds a major role in transforming basketball sneakers into a fashion statement in the 90s. Following the footsteps of the legend, Tucker also held on to a similar idea. He described the sneaker as, “Something for on or off the court,” as per Nick DePaula. 

Nike also dropped a flashy commercial for the sneakers involving PJ Tucker himself. The ad featured the Clippers star boarding a private jet in an attire dominated by sky blue and flipped open the iconic Air Flight 89. DePaula also revealed that the shoe is all out for the fans to grab on May 5th.

LeBron James under immense pressure

Even though LeBron James made a sweet gesture to give a shout out to Tucker, he is also tangled up in a tough situation at the same time. The 39-year-old has a series on the line, along with a bunch of criticisms tied to him. The veteran analyst called him out for ‘no show’ in the last quarter throughout his career.

Now that the series is also on the line 0-2, James has to step up to prove them all wrong. The Nuggets stopped the Lakers last year in the Western Conference with a 4-0 sweep, but this year, the teams face each other in the first round, making it an intense battle, early in the postseason. On top of it, the Lakers have lost 10 straight games against Denver in the last two seasons.

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The Lakers have two home games back-to-back and have the perfect opportunity to level the series and get back to winning ways. Along with James can also shut down his critics. If everything turns out well, James can even face his LA rival Tucker at some point in the postseason. Nevertheless, the LA rivalry between the Lakers and Clippers might come to an end, as the Clips finally built their own arena for the upcoming season.

Let’s find out if the rival stays alive even after moving out of the Crypto.com arena in the next season. Let us know your opinion in the comments below.