It’s that point in the season where rivalries take a new turn. The Lakers-Kings rivalry was amplified amid the Luka Doncic and Dennis Schroder drama. With Russell Westbrook in a Kings jersey, there was a personal edge to it. Amid such an intense part of the season, LeBron James is building up to a huge milestone in his 23rd season.

The $31 billion worth trading card giant, Topps has rolled out a special event to celebrate the first NBA star to play a 23rd season. James is going to wear a special-edition 23rd season jersey patch. The patches will be removed after each game and used in some ultra-rare trading cars by Topps.

The patch was debuted tonight, when the Lakers traveled to Sacramento. This game was intentionally chosen as King James made his NBA debut on October 29, 2003 when the Cleveland Cavaliers traveled to Sacramento.

For choosing tonight to debut a historic jersey patch, the Sacramento Kings X account had something to say. “bad day to be a jersey patch debut 🙂‍↔️” That’s a blunt way to put it.

It’s a little repetition of history. On his NBA debut, James had 25 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 steals but the Cavs lost 92-106 to the Kings.

Much like that day, James had 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, proving his output is much the same at 41 as it was in his first NBA game. But the Lakers lost 124-112 to the Kings.

After the game, James said he felt, “super cool, super surreal, super humbled,” when he saw the patch for the first time. Being back in Sacramento stirred emotions unrelated to the rivalry and made him reflect on the journey. Even if he didn’t win at 18 nor at 41.

Hence, the jersey patch wasn’t much of a lucky charm. But the Kings just had to season the wound extra deep.

Sacramento rains on LeBron James’ parade

The Lakers and Kings rivalry existed long before LeBron James suited up in Purple & Gold. But this season it’s a lot deeper.

The teams had a heated game on December 28, before James’ 41st birthday. On the way to the Lakers winning 101-125, Luka Doncic and Dennis Schroder played out their EuroBasket rivalry with loaded trash talk. It included Doncic bringing up Schroder fumbling his Lakers contract negotiations.

It apparently led to a heated confrontation at the locker rooms that Deandre Ayton had to break up. Schroder allegedly (Draymond Green and Markieff Morris believe otherwise) threw hands. The NBA didn’t slapped him with a three-game suspension and a fine on January 10.

For the Lakers to arrive in Sacramento on the second day of the German guard’s suspension gave the Kings fresh ammo to beat them. On the day LeBron James was building up to a celebration of his legacy, the Kings got the last laugh.

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Luka Doncic had 42 points but the Kings were on a hot shooting night. The Kings hit 17 3-pointers tonight, a big upgrade to the 10 they average. The Lakers let the second half get away and suffered their third straight loss.

The Sacramento social media team had all the chops to taunt their opponents, including post the pre-game odds that favored the Lakers by 75%. Instead, the Kings overturned the odds. In the end, Topps got its rare memorabilia, but Sacramento got the last laugh.