How should LeBron James cope with the moment?
Sitting tight in a Play-In spot at 37 years old, the King has slowly realized what this season has become: a bust. With Anthony Davis, Westbrook, and the rest of LA’s funky bunch actively sabotaging the season with injuries and poor play, old man James needs to find something to win so the season won’t be a complete waste for his legacy.
Currently, at the top of the scoring champion race, James has earned the right to shamelessly go for points instead of wins. Score-first LeBron is putting on a clinic every night and answering countless “what if LeBron didn’t look to set up his teammates first?” debates.
LeBron James Created This Lakers Roster
Of course, we all know that Lebron James asked for this roster, including the now-infamous Westbrook trade. He is also the reason the Lakers were able to sign so many veterans on minimum deals.
Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Malik Monk, Wayne Ellington, Avery Bradley. Almost all of the Lakers’ functional depth signed for minimum contracts because they believed they had a chance to compete for a ring with the King.
Sure, none of this depth is even close to adequate for a contender, but imagine if Los Angeles wasn’t able to entice any of these names. How else is a front office supposed to create a rotation with three max-contract players eating up 107% of their cap space?
LeBron pushed for the Westbrook trade, and it completely failed. But it was likely to stall from the start, and the Lakers’ front office should have refused to pull the trigger.
General manager Rob Pelinka didn’t have the nerve to stand up to LeBron James and save the King from himself. The Lakers owe it to James to feed him possessions and live or die by the results.
What Else Does The King Have To Play For?
LeBron James made headlines by passing Karl Malone as the 2nd all-time leading scorer in NBA history. He will likely pass another Laker great in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the all-time leading scorer at some point in his Lakers tenure.
James knows what it takes to win a championship. But he is more familiar than any superstar when a team does not have what it takes to win. He is the only star to win Finals MVP with three separate franchises.
It’s safe to say he already knows the Lakers don’t have enough to win this year. So instead of booing LeBron as he shamelessly ignores open teammates to take a contested jump shot, understand that getting those two points is all the man has left.
Check out my Twitter for daily NBA commentary and be sure to check out the other work by all the good people of Belly Up Sports.
