LeBron James will reportedly wear Cavaliers-colored sneakers in his Lakers debut

In his first game as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, NBA superstar LeBron James will wear shoes to match the colors of his old team, which is sure to upset some fans on both sides of the equation.

James will wear the “King” colorway of his new Nike LeBron 16 sneakers, according to Bleacher Report. The shoes are maroon, just like the Cleveland Cavaliers, for whom James played his last four seasons. They also feature a leopard print on the heel and a photograph of James on a throne on the insole.

This may simply be a tip of the cap to his former team and his hometown of Northeast Ohio, but plenty of Lakers fans, some of whom are already wary about James taking the L.A. basketball superstar reins from Kobe Bryant, would rather see him jump into the forum blue and gold with both feet:

And some Cavaliers fans don’t need the reminder that LeBron left Cleveland for L.A.:

For the record, there does appear to be a Lakers-themed version of the LeBron 16:

This is the first season in which NBA players can wear whatever color sneakers they want. In the past, players were required to wear sneakers that were white, black or some variation of their current team’s colors, so James is taking full advantage on his first opportunity to express himself through shoes. What exactly that expression is remains a mystery to both Lakers and Cavaliers fans.

As for that leopard print …

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Ben Rohrbach is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach

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