The biggest Lakers news in La La Land from this latest media cycle has far and away been LeBron James and Damian Lillard being spotted together in public. Amid all the internal drama the Portland Trail Blazers star has been going through with his own franchise, there was LeBron, knowingly sparking some Dame to the Lakers trade rumors. The two were spotted exchanging pleasantries at a WNBA game held at the LA Convention Center.

While the above scene was a fever dream of sorts for Lakers media, one noticeable aspect of it was the opportunity cost LeBron James had to intentionally bear – missing his long-time friend Chris Paul's Western Conference coronation.

Are LeBron James and Chris Paul beefing?

Lakers, LeBron James, Suns, Chris Paul

While there was no assurance that Paul's Phoenix Suns would take Game 6 and end their series against the Clippers, the fact that the game was being played at Staples Center, right across the street from the WNBA game James attended, was hard to ignore. Never mind LeBron James actually being in attendance for that contest. Just having enough vested interest to watch the game even from his home felt like a normal desire from one long-time friend cheering on another.

Of course, he might have had legitimate reasons for focusing on the LA Sparks take on the Las Vegas Aces in a blowout affair. Beyond just hobnobbing with Lillard at the game for a fleeting moment, other friends like Dwyane Wade and Quinn Cook were also there. It might have been a rare opportunity to see some of his buddies in person, which in this pandemic age is of much greater significance than ever before.

But isn't it odd that James has never even tweeted about Chris Paul at all throughout his inspiring playoff run? Loads of NBA stars gave CP3 his flowers for finally making the NBA Finals, including Lillard himself. You can chalk that up to Bron just not feeling like it on that particular day. But it's been pretty conspicuous how he's tweeted on basically every other legitimate contender ever since his Lakers were unceremoniously ousted by Paul's Suns in the first round.

Apologies in advance for acting like your unfriendly neighborhood internet sleuth, but there seem to be some tea leaves begging to be read amongst LeBron James's tweets thus far. King James has tweeted for one reason or another on Trae Young, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and every member of the Brooklyn Nets' superstar trio.

While some of those tweets were simply well-wishes towards injuries, LeBron James has been vocal on witnessing transcendent postseason displays as well. He shouted out Trae Young over his utter domination of the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals. Kevin Durant got not one, but two reactions out of the Lakers superstar and long-time rival.

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You might recall that things weren't exactly all rainbows and butterflies between the two future Hall of Famers during their first-round series. There was a ton of taunting from both sides and even some physical altercations. One particular play involved Chris Paul seemingly undercutting LeBron James on a rebound attempt, which had the Lakers star on the ground writhing in pain.

Then there was the dramatic conclusion in Game 6, when Devin Booker erupted to bury LeBron James' depleted Lakers squad. King James was seen abruptly exiting the arena without so much as a kind word to his buddy Chris Paul.

Though after the game, LeBron did gift D-Book with a signed jersey as a show of respect after tasting defeat. Weeks later, James also congratulated his former teammate and Suns general manager James Jones for winning the Executive of the Year award. But there hasn't been a peep on his banana boat buddy Chris Paul.

 

LeBron James may have missed CP3's WCF Game 6 for the ages, purposely or not, but you'd think a congratulations would be in order in some way, shape, or form. But at the end of the day, I guess we just have to remember that LeBron James is human too. No matter how universally gifted he is at the game of basketball and how immense his contributions are to the world both as a role model and philanthropist, tasting the sting of defeat is never easy.

And for all we know LeBron James may have reached out to Chris Paul privately. Perhaps he wasn't comfortable putting up a congratulatory post on social media with some kind of negative optics in mind. Or maybe this was all just some stupid coincidence and the internet once again is over-speculating on a whole lot of nothing. Whatever you believe for now, I'll be in the camp attentively waiting on the Lakers star's message if the Suns win the whole damn thing.