When Shaquille O’Neal returned to LA as a member of the Miami Heat in 2004, the Staples Center erupted, with all 18,997 fans on their feet, giving the Big Diesel one of the loudest ovations the building had ever seen. And this was a guy who left on bad terms, with the Kobe feud still fresh and the wounds from his messy exit still very much open. Yet there he was, cheered like a returning hero anyway.

Fast forward two decades, and LeBron James is about to walk into that same building wearing different colors. This Christmas Day, he’ll be suiting up for the Philadelphia 76ers, his new team after departing LA and stepping back onto the Crypto.com Arena floor as the enemy. The question everyone’s asking: will the crowd show him the same love they showed Shaq?

Lakers analyst Jovan Buha didn’t seem surprised at all by the Sixers-Lakers holiday matchup, drawing the Shaq parallel almost immediately. And honestly, it tracks. Of course, what made Shaq’s return extra spicy was that he showed up talking. “He’s a Corvette, I’m a brick wall.” LeBron’s departure from LA didn’t come with that kind of theatrics, and his relationship with Luka Doncic carries none of the toxicity that defined the Kobe-Shaq era. But don’t let that fool you, the electricity around this matchup is very real, and Christmas Day at Crypto just became must-watch TV.

“First time LeBron is playing the Lakers, first time he’s returning to LA, obviously, and the drama, the theater with this game is going to be incredible,” said Buha on his YouTube channel. “This is going to be one of the biggest games of the season. And just I mean talk about, like, the camera work with the pregame LeBron doing the chalk toss, but then LeBron walking onto the floor, and it’s going to be, does he dap up Luka? Does he dap up Austin? Remember with Kobe and Shaq, they didn’t dap up before the game, and that was a national storyline.

“Like this is going to be like that, right? Like, there’s no break-up to the level of Shaq and Kobe with this dynamic. But it is going to be like Shaq returns as a member of the Heat, and there’s just all this anticipation, all this excitement for that game. I think it’s going to be a similar thing with LeBron, and does he get booed, does he not get booed, or how does he perform?”

LeBron James never quite gained the same respect as Shaquille O’Neal, who was admired in the Lakers for his performances and part of the three-peat. The fans felt it, and the analysts reported it.

“I don’t feel like LeBron is beloved in LA,” ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said after James annouced his exit.“I don’t even think he’s really appreciated.”

Now, LeBron James will also be motivated to perform against his former team. Last season, he was asked to be the third option behind Luka and AR. But during the playoffs, since both superstars were injured, the Lakers relied on Bron’s excellence.

Let’s not forget that earlier this year, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes published a report on internal dysfunction within the Lakers and a strained relationship between Jeanie Buss and LeBron James. It allegedly started when Bron got the tag of the “franchise savior” in 2018. Then it widened with AD’s signature, which led to more influence of Klutch Sports.

Then there was the fallout of the Russell Westbrook trade, a trade that LeBron James asked for but reportedly never took accountability for the failure. While there might not be direct tension to the level of Kobe-Shaq, yet, the relationship between Bron and the Lakers was never that simple.