Lakers’ Jared Dudley spoke with Jason Lloyd and Joe Vardon of The Athletic about the Lakers 2019 pre-season in China. Dudley was shocked by the attention that LeBron James got from China fans.
“You know how big he is over here in the States. In China (last September) we had a players-only dinner at, I think, Morton’s Steakhouse inside the hotel. We go up there and he’s telling stories about last year’s team and this year, and getting us all ready. We leave, and when we leave, we go down the elevator (of the restaurant, inside the Ritz-Carlton in Shanghai). There might have been 4,000 people chanting his name. And they rushed the elevator to get through; security couldn’t hold everyone back. And one of Kyle Kuzma’s managers was trying to hold people back, and the weight of the people pushing was so much, he basically dislocated his shoulder and had to have surgery,” said Dudley
“And they kept chanting his name, “King James, King James.” I even got a video of it early on because I was behind him. And I was like, it was so crazy, they were rushing him. … It was mayhem. That’s when I knew this year would be special. I’ve never played with anyone, even though Jordan drafted me, I’ve never played with anyone else that would have something like that,” Dudley added.
