Something to keep in mind for the conspiracy theorists

Yes, LA is a key market for the NBA, but if we're talking about actual fans from LA, they are going to have a team in the WCF regardless and in the same way that many people from Houston and around Texas rooted for the Mavs, not the Heat, in their finals, a lot of those fans will be watching regardless. There will be more direct reach if you have Houston the 4th largest city in the country watching. And yes I know the Lakers and Lebron have a ton of bandwagon fans around the world, but you can't just hold his hand all the way every year. People are tired of Lebron, time to change the narrative