Once upon a time, a young prince took the Alliance by storm. The year was 2003, and the young prodigy entered the league with a level of hype that no other rookie could match. At 18 years old, LeBron James was thrust into the spotlight before he even came of age, when expectations for him seemed impossible for an individual basketball player to achieve.
But it didn’t take long for Lyndon Johnson to advance from prince to king. It’s like he just skipped over the whole “rookie wall” concept because he seemed so comfortable on the court from day one. Twenty years later, the crown still belongs to LeBron.
Sure, players like Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo may be considered the best overall players right now, but even they have publicly admitted to still being below the Kings in terms of player strength rankings. . Maybe it’s just a matter of saying the right things to the media, but there’s no denying how much respect LeBron commands from his peers.
He certainly had his fair share of enemies during his many battles, but can you remember a player who legitimately criticized LeBron James’ basketball abilities? We don’t even consider the pointless, immature comments of people like Dillon Brooks as serious criticism on this subject.
There is a legitimate argument to be made that LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of all time, but the man LeBron James has also blessed many others with his work off the court. He will certainly be remembered for his championships and great performances, but he is truly an incredible role model for the younger generation of basketball players to look up to. For now, we’ll stick to his basketball skills and save those extra compliments for later, as he clearly has plenty of gas left in the tank as he showed last season.
Not to mention his current team could be a potential juggernaut on both sides of the ball. From top to bottom, this may be the most talented roster the Kings have ever had in their front office. When you take a moment to dissect the 2023-2024 Lakers roster, it seems likely that LeBron’s burden will be as light as ever.
First and foremost, this team will live or die on Anthony Davis. It was obvious that LeBron was more than happy to hand Davis the keys to the team and sit in the passenger seat when he was acquired from New Orleans. AD is obviously the future of this team, but he’s actually been the core of this team the past few years.
Ever notice that once he gets hurt, things seem to fall apart? His importance on both ends of the offense and defense is huge, even more important than LeBron. There have long been questions about whether he will actually be heir to the throne, and this will undoubtedly be his best chance to prove that he is worthy and ready to become a member of the royal family.
LeBron James could have a huge supporting cast in his final stretch with the Lakers.
Looking back, LeBron had a lot of other support on offense. Austin Reeves is no longer a loser, he’s just a dog now. You just don’t hear anyone throwing shade at Reeves anymore. He’s a real player and will take on a lot of the ball-handling and playmaking responsibilities that LeBron once had.
combine him with another highly underestimated With D’Angelo Russell as the secondary playmaker, we may have the best backcourt LeBron has ever played with. That’s not to say Lyndon Johnson won’t serve as this team’s chief playmaker, just that he’ll be under far less pressure on offense than before.
Then you throw in some of the other frontcourt players like Rui Hachimura and newest Laker addition Christian Wood, and it’s not hard to get excited about the heavy weapons Rob Pelinka is equipping LeBron with to orchestrate the offense. On any other team, these two would easily be the top 2-3 scorers, but they rank closer to fifth and sixth in the Lakers’ offensive rankings this season. It’s a scary realization that many other teams will have to come to terms with. This is a team built to put points on the scoreboard, and the dangerous part is that LeBron could have the worst shooting night of his career and the team could still drop 120-130 points. Well, they might even go down 140-150 if everyone else is clicking. Scratch that, if only 2 or 3 of the others are hot, they might even drop by the same amount.
Not to mention the others on the list. Guys like Gabe Vincent, Torian Prince and Max Christie have all shown the ability to put the ball in the hole in different ways. However, the real value of these guys next season will be on the less glamorous end of the floor. With LeBron turning 39 in December, the coaching staff will certainly want to save as much energy for him on defense as possible.
Fortunately for him, the roster is filled with defenders at the three position, AD, AR, Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes. Have we forgotten about other defenders? Oh yeah, Jared Vanderbilt is back with a pretty team-friendly extension and continues to wreak havoc on opposing scoring threats. He and AD could combine to form one of the best defensive duos in the entire league, and having them on the floor next to James would certainly save a lot of wear and tear on his tires. Let’s not forget Hachimura’s defensive improvement in last season’s playoffs.
All things considered, the front office has done a great job of assembling a roster that seems to be making LeBron’s life as easy as possible this season. Whether all the pieces of the puzzle will fit together seamlessly remains to be seen, but on paper, this is a serious contender for the title.
Questions abound about whether this is LeBron’s last season, and Rob Pelinka has worked wonders this summer to try to convince him to return to the Lakers for at least one more season in 2024-2025. Perhaps it was inevitable that Brown would decide to jump ship and join his son Bronny next season (thankfully, it appears he will be returning to the basketball court soon), but no one would accuse him of taking that route.
There are definitely still a lot of question marks regarding LeBron’s future with the Lakers, but for now, let’s just enjoy the greatness that is LeBron James right now. As mentioned, this is quite possibly the greatest player of all time. Basketball fans around the world need to embrace his legacy and appreciate his performances as he enters the twilight of his career. For all we know, this may actually be his last season as a professional basketball player.
Thank you, LeBron, for everything you have done and everything you have yet to do for the game of basketball. Thank you, Rob Pelinka, for doing everything you can to appease the King.
Hopefully the 2023-24 season will bring him another ring to add to his collection.