The Los Angeles Chargers are only days from opening the 2026 season at home against the Arizona Cardinals, and while the team is sorting through early injuries before Week 1, Justin Herbert and Derwin James Jr. got a very different kind of spotlight earlier this week.
In Torrance, internationally renowned artist and muralist Robert Vargas unveiled his latest work on the side of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. The 12-story mural, titled “The Storm is Coming,” features Herbert and James and stands as a striking tribute to two of the Chargers’ biggest names.
Vargas explained the idea behind it in an earlier Instagram post: "Sports and art have a unique power to bridge cultures, unite communities, and bring people from all different backgrounds together. Diversity through sports. With The Storm is Coming" mural, I want to capture that electric energy and local pride, celebrating the Chargers and giving the South Bay a new visual anchor that inspires everyone who sees it."
The mural is a clear honor for Herbert, James and the Chargers, and it sits beside another Vargas piece on the hotel’s other side. That mural, “Samurai of the Diamond,” features Dodgers stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and Shohei Ohtani.
But the unveiling also sparked an awkward moment for KTLA. In a now-deleted and retracted article, Marc Sternfield, KTLA’s director of digital content, used the mural reveal as an excuse to take aim at the Chargers’ place in Los Angeles. The piece, titled Fans mock Los Angeles Chargers after mural unveiling, leaned on social media comments that were clearly meant to cut down the team’s standing as an LA franchise.
Chargers fans pushed back quickly, and the article disappeared from KTLA’s website and social media within hours. The situation didn’t end there, either. The same angle was repeated on air, before KTLA anchor Samantha Cortese shut it down with a blunt "whatever" and steered the conversation back to what the mural actually was: an honor.
this story got thrown at me on-air and i was... not having it. pic.twitter.com/q9ojA46I23
For the Chargers, the mural was supposed to be a celebration of Herbert and James. For one corner of KTLA, it became something else entirely. Cortese’s closing advice fit the moment best: "Don't listen to the haters."
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