LeBron James is a Laker
LeBron James is a Laker. LeBron James is a Laker. LeBron James is a Laker… nope, not gonna believe it until they actually call his name on opening day and he strolls out there under the spotlight wearing the purple and gold and shakes Jack Nicholson’s hand on the way out.
It’s a surreal thought, LeBron James on the Lakers, but also a completely logical one. The guy owns two houses in California. He’s got a burgeoning entertainment business going on. He’s starred in Hollywood films (actually a half-decent actor too, which makes him Meryl Streep compared to most athlete/actors). He’d already won a championship in Cleveland to fulfil what he promised when he went back. And if it weren’t for the juggernaut that is the Golden State Warriors then he’d have probably won a couple more – eight straight Eastern Conference titles, remember.
This has nothing to do with rings. LeBron James is competing for rings wherever the hell he happens to be playing. If he’d signed with the Sacramento Kings then he’d be playing for the championship, that’s just how he rolls. And also because when you’ve got LeBron James on your franchise the emphasis is on winning immediately. Countless veterans have signed on minimums to play with LeBron in Cleveland or with Steph and the lads in Golden State. Those are ring-chasing moves. This is not. Instead it’s a business move, it’s a legacy move and it’s a family move.
The first and third of those need no further explanation. The second probably does. The Los Angeles Lakers are bigger than basketball, they’re a global brand on a level that only a handful of franchises in all sports can rival. Their 16 championship banners are only the start of it, look at the legends that have graced that team in its legendary history and you’re looking at some of the greatest players to ever play the game. Magic Johnson, Kareen Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant… now LeBron James.
That’s a lot of pressure to succeed. Put simply, LeBron’s overall legacy is as good if not better than all of those individuals but for his time with the Lakers to be a success – and he signed a four year deal so no more one and ones, no more fishing around, the dude’s dropped anchor – he’s going to need to win. That’s the only way with the Lakers. But you get the feeling that that’s exactly the kind of pressure that LeBron James wants right now. At this stage in his career he thrives on that pressure.
Then, of course, for a guy who has always strived to be the best, who grew up supporting the Yankees and the Cowboys, playing for the LA Lakers is a romantic notion. Winning with the Lakers is an even more romantic notion. Winning with the Lakers after they’d tanked out for several years, after they haven’t even made the playoffs for five seasons, after they haven’t made the finals since 2010… that’s the next most romantic thing to bringing a championship to Cleveland after half a century. What do you do after you’ve already achieved perfection? You do it again, of course.
Plus now he gets to chill with Magic Johnson instead of Dan Gilbert, who absolutely threw him under the bus when he left for Miami in 2010 (although Gilby wrote a much nicer letter this time, full credit). Safe to say he’s got a dude building his roster for him now that’s a little more sympathetic to the needs of a superstar carrying a franchise.
Although having said that… Lance Stephenson!? JaVale McGee!? Rajon Flippin’ Rondo!? The dude just escaped from JR Smith and this is what you give him? Not to mention the top notch defender that is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope… top notch defender who can’t shoot for trash. Lonzo Ball has a notoriously wonky jump shot as well. Can anybody shoot on this team? Luke Walton’s already got them playing decent defence so expect them to be way up near the top in those metrics but unless they can win games 70-68 every night or unless LeBron averages 45 ppg then what’s going on?
Especially, you know, compared to this…
That particular slice of oneupsmanship shows that the Warriors were listening when LeBron moved to the Western Conference but save that drama for another day. Jeez this has been a mental free agency and we’re only a couple days into it. Day one went to the Thunder. Day two went to the Lakers. And day three is going straight to Adam Silver’s inbox.
Should add that there is some logic behind what the Lakers are doing with those free agents. All four of them have signed on single year deals which means zero cap hit next season. Rondo is there to give Lonzo a run for his money, act as a role model and also a threat – and Lonzo could use a shake-up after an impressive but comfortable rookie season. Also Lonzo is injured and won’t be coming into the season in peak condition. KCP is a returning defensive utility while McGee had an admittedly great finals series with the Warriors. He’s better than his comic reputation. Lance Stephenson, well he’s the self-proclaimed LeBron stopper so having him on LeBron’s team is an obvious bonus. LeBron, Lance, Lonzo and Rondo are all triple-double threats on their day. Good luck juggling all that, Luke, but it’s not the worst problem to have.
All those one-year deals mean they’ll still have the cap space to go after Kawhi Leonard next season, with it becoming increasingly unlikely that they’ll be able to trade for him now. The Spurs want to try and repair the relationship rather than cash in. If they trade him, it’s as likely to be at the trade deadline as anything. The Lakers already have LeBron. They’ve bought some time. If they have to wait until next season for Kawhi and if that means also getting to keep Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma then that ain’t so bad.
Big pressure on Ingram and Kuzma too. This team has solid talent but they need shooters and they need them yesterday. If Ingram (39.0% from 3pt last season) and Kuzma (36.6% from 3pt last season) can step it up another level from 2017-18 then they’ve got very large roles to play.
In the meantime, just know that there are more moves yet to be made. They aren’t done.
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