LeBron James, Jayson Tatum dazzle crowd before Seattle pro-am gets cut short

SEATTLE — A historic day at the CrawsOver Pro-Am featuring more NBA talent than has been on a court in Seattle since the league's last preseason visit ended early due to court conditions, but not before what organizer Jamal Crawford called an «unbelievable, one of one» experience.

Although several of the league's biggest stars have played in the CrawsOver since games moved to its current home (Royal Brougham Pavilion on the campus of Seattle Pacific University), including Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin, hype for the pro-am has never reached the heights it did Saturday.

The excitement began Friday, when Crawford and LeBron James tweeted that the four-time MVP would return to Seattle for the first time since his last road game against the Sonics in January 2007, more than 15 years ago.

James was joined by fellow All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Dejounte Murray, as well as this year's top two draft picks (Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren, though Holmgren left in the game's opening moments with an apparent ankle injury), two other first-round picks (locals MarJon Beauchamp and Tari Eason) and three other NBA veterans: locals CJ Elleby and Isaiah Thomas and visitor Aaron Gordon.

With free attendance capped at less than 3,000, fans began camping out overnight Friday to assure their spot in line. Thousands remained outside after the gym reached capacity.

Luminaries in the crowd included Hall of Fame player and coach Lenny Wilkens, LA Clippers chairman Steve Ballmer, several former Seattle Seahawks (Cliff Avril, Marcus Trufant and K.J. Wright) and members of both the Seattle Storm and Washington Mystics — who practiced elsewhere in the building earlier Saturday ahead of Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series on Sunday.

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