Not long after LeBron James signed a four-year, $154 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, a giant mural of LeBron in a Lakers jersey went up outside of Baby Blues BBQ in Venice, California. The artwork, done by muralist Jonas Never and graffiti artist Fernando Velez, included the text "The King of L.A."
Just days after images of the mural went viral, the piece was vandalized.
Phrases such as “LeFraud,” “We don’t want you,” “No King” and “3-6,” in reference to LeBron's record in the NBA Finals, were graffiti'd over the mural after twitter user @BenOsaze offered $300 to anyone who defaced the artwork and shared video. Video of the vandalism was never posted, but restaurant security cameras caught people in the act early Sunday morning around 1 a.m., according to the New York Post
As a result, Never restored his work but this time he omitted the "of."
“It was a last-minute thing,” the restaurant’s manager told Yahoo Sports of the “of.” “I think they added it when they completed the mural on Friday, and it seemed to create a big controversy. People can’t separate the fact that it was ‘King James’ as a nickname from the ‘LA.’ It was the artist’s decision.”