'LABron' James Mural Vandalized, Restored With Minor Change, Possibly After Twitter User Offered $300 'To Anyone Who Destroys It'
STUDIO CITY (CBSLA) — Even as "LABron" fever rages in the Southland, some Lakers fans are so upset, they're putting out hits out on the "King James" agitprop.
The paint on the LeBron James mural on the side of Baby Blues BBQ in Venice was barely dry, when vandals took cans of paint to the homage, apparently by Lakers fans who feel slighted by the team's recent $154 million acquisition — and who maybe wanted an extra $300.
A Twitter user who went by the handle @BenOsaze and the name "Lakers Fanbase" put out the following call Friday, since deleted from the site:
"I'm offering $300 to anyone who destroys this mural and shares a video. The mural is located at Baby Blues BBQ - 444 Lincoln Blvd, Venice, CA 90291 #Lakers #Kobe #LeBron".
The user's account has either been suspended or deleted, as it no longer appears on the site, but this being the internet, many people recorded it for posterity.
By Sunday, the mural, which was finished Friday, had already been fixed, albeit with a slight but significant change: "of" was taken out of the mural, which originally read "King of LA."
The Kobe hashtag might have had something to do with that concession, since it appears Lakers fans are adamant about who the true "King of LA" is. Baby Blues' security camera caught at least one person people the painting, spraying "We don't want you," "LeFraud," "No King" and "3-6," which Baby Blues manager Rob Aguirre said is James' NBA Finals record.
"I mean, everybody's entitled to their opinion, it was just a piece of art," Aguirre told CBS2 News. "All it was meant to do was welcome LeBron, try to capture some of the excitement that was going on in the city."
One of the artists, who goes by the moniker "Jonas Never" tweeted a photo of the updated mural, saying he took off "the little scribbles and the offending 'of.'"
Below is the original for comparison.
Artist Menso collaborated with Jonas Never on the project.
Never posted a photo of some of his other work, including a mural of Kobe Bryant, and defended his work to the LeBron haters.
Never is a well-respected artist whose recent works have included the late Anthony Bourdain and Chester Bennington.
However, if you thought this was the only LABron-versus-Lakers-and-Kobe-mural-fight story this weekend, you'd be mistaken.
Twitter user Andrew Perez posted a video last week of his ultimately successful attempt to down a LeBron decal someone had placed on a mural of Kobe. In a very meta fashion, he throws his shoe at the wall of the Shoe Palace in L.A.'s Fairfax District 10 times, before his sneaker coup de gras on LeBron's airborne image.
Whatever side you take in the LABron debate, that's dedication.
