NBA: Erving admires LeBron for taking on challenging Western Conference

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Los Angeles, August 29: NBA great Julius Erving lauded LeBron James for his bravery in making the move to the Western Conference.

James had been a part of the Eastern Conference champions for eight consecutive seasons.

But he decided this offseason to leave the conference and go to a deeper West, which includes the Golden State Warriors, by joining the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I have a great admiration for a guy who dominated the Eastern Conference as he has and then goes out to take up the challenge of playing in the Western Conference," Erving told 97.3 ESPN Radio in Philly. "That's chutzpah."

James joins a Lakers team with a lot of young talent, which includes Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart.

The team also added veterans JaVale McGee, Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley to give it a nice mix of young players with potential and veterans with playoff experience.

Still, the Western Conference has won four of the last five NBA titles and has a 19-8 record in the Finals against James-led teams.

James signed a four-year, $154million contract with the Lakers this offseason after spending the last four years with the Cleveland Cavaliers.