LeBron James and the Lakers avoid a first-round sweep, but the clock is ticking in L.A.
LOS ANGELES – The music blared loudly, and Crypto.com Arena patrons sang “I Love LA” loudly at the buzzer.
Ding, dong, the witch is dead – 11-game losing streak Lakers It was for Denver Nuggets I finish.
Then the voice of baritone Lawrence Tanter, the Lakers’ longtime PA man, delivered the reality of the moment, dampening the joy.
“The series is three games to one.”
The inevitable will only be postponed for a few days, and maybe a little longer if the Nuggets continue their streak of missing open jump shots and playing with their Laker food.
But when it’s over, the age-old question of the NBA’s great man remains, LeBron James:
what are you doing with him?
His greatness requires a level of urgency, and his age adds even more. He was active on Saturday in Game 4, leading the Lakers in scoring with 30 points, along with five rebounds and four assists in the game. Winning 119-108. Anthony Davis He led the team to victory with 25 points, 23 rebounds, and six assists, maintaining his consistency in the match in front of him. Nikola Jokic. James influenced him.
It’s impossible to achieve excellence every night, which complicates matters when there are championship expectations for a championship franchise.
Two nights ago, James was asked about his daily rival, the peerless Jokic and those Nuggets, and where they ranked in terms of the opponents he’s faced over his 21-year career.
“It’s very difficult for me to answer that question right now,” James said. “This team is well-equipped, well-prepared, well-coached. They don’t have a weakness offensively. They have shot-makers, playmakers. You’re always trying to keep them at bay. It’s one of the best teams I’ve played in my career.”
James doesn’t really have individual rivalries, as much as he has with franchises and systems. Players alone can rarely overcome James’ unique abilities, but when paired with their peers, and putting in the effort, they can surpass everything James brings to the table.
No matter the repetition Tim Duncan He came to you when he was with Tottenham. Stephen Curry And the Golden State Warriors. the Boston Celtics. Now, these are nuggets.
That’s because James He is French. You know the drill. Co-stars will be scrutinized, players will be elevated and censured – see D’Angelo Russell. Coaches will be put through the competition. It’s drama, high maintenance, and unreasonable expectations, but there are trips to June almost every time, like an annual couple’s vacation.
But James and June have been divorced for a long time. We’re just led to believe that they’re temporarily separated, and that they’re somehow bound to reunite after spending some time apart.
June has been owned by others during James’ career, sometimes multiple times, and this round, Jokic appears to have a date ready — as long as his teammates bring them to a game within the next two months.
James, the franchise, will likely do another dance this summer with the Lakers, where he could decline his player option and become a free agent. The Lakers have to look around at the changing landscape of the NBA and rationally determine how they can build around James — which has always been a daunting task of sorts.
Can he, who turns 40 in December, be relied upon to be the team’s best player, the team’s unique driving force, its greatest winning engine, and have this team have realistic title expectations? Or be someone who can influence the win?
Not that he’s likely to leave, but think about how the Lakers must think:
If he leaves cleveland In an unprecedented way, he disdains his home region, why didn’t he leave you?
If he leaves Miamithe place that turned him into a complete player, a man of the year and a two-time champion, the place where player and franchise married, why will he stick with you?
If he leaves Cleveland again, having helped to a most unusual title, what would stop him from seeking a partnership elsewhere?
The league has gotten too good, and James may have gotten too old, to replicate Los Angeles Rams GM Les Snead’s formula of “F*** them (draft) picks”: “Les Snead, legend! My kind of guy! James made it happen.” she tweeted after the Rams won the Super Bowl two years ago.
The Rams had gone seven straight years without a first-round draft pick before breaking the streak two days ago. But the rewards of this boldness are not guaranteed.
Being with James is the equivalent of speed dating. Quick trial, quick judge, quick dismissal. Other relationships around the league have matured, experienced growing pains, ridden the wave, and been better for it.
Would James have listened to an organization if I had told him that? Jamal MurrayWill Michael Porter Jr.’s return over 18 months from a knee injury pay off, or confidence in Michael Porter Jr.’s return?
Or would he have urged the franchise to cut bait, and bring in someone who maybe wasn’t as talented, wasn’t young but could contribute quickly?
We all know the likely answer.
There’s no traditional way to build a contender anymore, almost all of them have disparate schemes that have brought in the likes of the Nuggets, Thunder, Timberwolves The Celtics are in favored status today, which means the Lakers will have to sell James on an unseen and unknown path to satisfy him in these final years.
James’ basketball IQ is unparalleled, which creates a layer of urgency and pressure.
James’s duality means that he’s usually right (and sometimes noticeably wrong), but can he be convinced that being right isn’t always best?
There is a sweet spot between patience and pressure. The Warriors believe they have time on their side to follow through Kevin DurantDeparture, but did not achieve optimal use of the acquired capital. They are now in a place where, despite the 2022 triumph, they are striving to make the most of Curry’s career.
Curry did not overtly pressure or manipulate the situation, and fortunately it worked, but one wonders what it would have been like if he had used a little more public force.
That will never happen, but the best thing for both parties is for Durant and the Warriors to reunite, bringing this old thing back as an old couple this time.
There doesn’t seem to be a similar lifeboat for James at the moment, but he always seems to put himself in advantageous situations. When he first arrived in Los Angeles, most believed he was setting himself up for a post-basketball career, allying himself with the movers and shakers while leaving winning behind for those most focused on it.
Anthony Davis was subsequently acquired, and they returned to the fast lane, winning the 2020 Orlando Bubble.
Is there a star around the corner who could give James another life in basketball? The league is expected to have an interesting summer, with more at stake for the franchises and players in these playoffs than meets the eye.
What happens with Donovan Mitchell And Cleveland, then cleveland Bending back in the first round? Atlanta‘s Trae Young Is a Klutch Sports client with James, and it’s looking more and more likely that Young and Falcons This can be dismissed out of season.
If so, is it a good fit?
Is there anyone?
What we do know is that while the clock is ticking on his career, it is ticking faster and louder for whichever team hires him. Even if it seems like it can stop time at times, the team can’t.
“The only chance for us is to win the next game. We’ve given ourselves a lifeline,” James said Saturday night after the win. “It’s a one-game series for us. Monday’s game is the most important game of the season for us. You lose, you’re done. You win, and you keep going.”
Tick, tick, tick.
