Zócalo's Connecting California
Rooting for the homegrown team
California is losing too many of its young people, and there are only so many LeBron James around to save us.
By Joe Mathews • • 5m ListenLeBron James might be the best basketball player in the world, and he will surely make the Lakers a better team. But not everyone is celebrating his arrival. Zocalo Public Square columnist Joe Mathews says James’ $154 million-dollar deal to play for the Lakers is a high-profile symptom of one of our state’s big problems: that California favors older, proven, and wealthy outsiders over our younger, poorer and homegrown compatriots. Mathews is still rooting for the Lakers, but he’ll be saving his biggest cheers for local product Lonzo Ball.