That was fast.
It's been a little over 24 hours since the basketball world was stunned by the news that the New Orleans Pelicans had traded six-time All-Star Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Despite the news of the trade still raw, and technically not official until at least July 6, that didn't stop a handful of excited Lakers fans from staying up all night to paint a massive mural of Davis on Melrose Ave.
Local artist, Gustavo Zermeno Jr., and a handful of his friends pulled an all-nighter in order to paint the mural of Davis and his signature unibrow.
As you can see from Zermeno's post on Instagram, the mural depicts Davis in a purple Lakers jersey with gold lettering. In the background, over his right shoulder is 12 of the Lakers retired jerseys. Over his left shoulder is just a few of the championship banners that hang in the rafters at Staples Center.
Zermeno and his friends painted the mural after Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke the news on Saturday afternoon that the Lakers and Pelicans had agreed on the framework of a trade that would send Davis to Hollywood in exchange for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, the No. 4 overall pick in Thursday's NBA Draft, and two future first round draft picks.
Ironically, just over a year ago, Zermeno stayed up all night again to paint a mural of LeBron James looking up at past Lakers' stars in front of Staples Center, after the three-time NBA Champion announced he was signing with the Lakers.
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Unfortunately, that mural was vandalized two weeks later because of angry Kobe Bryant fans who were insulted at the insinuation that James was the new "King of LA," before even taking the court in a Lakers' jersey.
Of course, those fans ultimately proved to be correct in their sentiments, as LeBron and the Lakers struggled in his first season in Los Angeles. James missed 17 consecutive games with a groin injury, and the Lakers missed the playoffs for the sixth straight season.
This time though, we think Zermeno's mural of Davis will last a little longer.
