LeBron James Pays Tribute to Traded Lakers Players As He Returns to Action

• LA Lakers fans got a glimpse of a new-look team as they blew away the New Orleans Pelicans
• The game also saw the return of 'scoring king' LeBron James, who had been missing to injury
• After the game, James paid tribute to the traded Los Angeles players who left the team last week

LeBron James returned to NBA action for the Lakers after missing their last few games with an ankle issue.

His team comfortably beat the New Orleans Pelicans 120-102.

After the game, James bid farewell to several Lakers players who were dealt in last week's NBA Trade Deadline, with Lakers fans getting to see the new-look team.

The 2020 NBA champions are having a bad season. They started 2-10 and despite a slow improvement, never climbed the Western Conference standings.

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Their season was disrupted by Anthony Davis's injury that kept him out for over a month.

General manager, Rob Pelinka made wholesale changes to the team, shipping Russell Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones, Patrick Beverley, and Thomas Bryant.

They were replaced by D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Davon Reed, and Mo Bamba, per Bleacher Report.

James' tribute to traded players

Westbrook, who started the season poorly, was expected to be moved as the Lakers court problems mounted. He started coming off the bench after the team's underwhelming start to the season.

He instantly became productive, but the trade ended a complicated era for him in Los Angeles. James had a few words to say about those players.

"First of all, I shout out and salute the guys that left," James said. "Russ, Pat, JTA, DJ and Thomas. Those five guys. We all started the season together and tried to work to make some things happen and be the best that we could be out on the floor," he said via ESPN.

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Darvin Ham's team heads into the All-Star break 13th in the Western Conference with a 27-32 record, two games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the final spot in the play-in tournament.

James' tribute to his wife

Sports Brief earlier reported on James paying a beautiful tribute to his wife, Savannah, a day after he became NBA's all-time leading scorer.

Before the Lakers' game against the Milwaukee Bucks, he addressed the fans inside the arena after being forced to sit out due to a foot injury.

James thanked the Lakers fans and his family, with children, Bronny, Bryce and Zhuri watching on as their dad delivered his heartfelt message.