LeBron James and the Lakers have struggled mightily this season, at least when it comes to living up to some lofty expectations. And that’s a rarity when it comes to a James-led team.
But James is 37-years old now, and while he still exhibits greatness nightly (at least, on offense), his explosiveness isn’t what it once was. That’s not an insult, nor is it a big surprise, given his advanced basketball age.
But Anthony Davis again has been injured a lot and Russell Westbrook has been a clunky fit. Without those two contributing regularly, James has been left to carry the bag as the lone ranger in the Lakers’ supposed Big Three.
That is a big issue, one rival general manager told FS1 analyst and veteran NBA insider Ric Bucher.
“LeBron is still good, but he can’t carry you anymore,” Bucher quoted the GM as saying.
Those words still to be harsh, but they also have to at least be considered as the truth. James is still very good. But he can no longer do it alone, and it’s unfair for the Lakers to ask him to do it. Not at this age.
"LeBron is still good, but he can’t carry you anymore.”
– Anonymous GM
(Via @RicBucher ) pic.twitter.com/3XzdMq7Y16— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) February 27, 2022
Granted, the Lakers have tried to give James the necessary assistance, but again, Davis has proven to be injury-prone and Westbrook perhaps past his own prime. The rest of the roster is a mish-mash of average NBA talent.
The bad news for James and the Lakers is there doesn’t appear to be any easy to fix things — short of trading Davis, or James himself.
Either way, what the GM is saying isn’t a shot at James. It’s just the cold, hard truth of what appears to be the reality of aging.
Despite all his greatness, not even LeBron can fight that off.
Sam Amico is senior NBA writer at Hoops wire. Follow him @AmicoHoops.
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LeBron James finds teams with talent, joins them, gets them to acquire talent, hall of fame level players. But he doesn’t make these players play better or make the sacrifices to let them play their game. Everybody must adjust to him. It’s not a very compatible style if you’re asking Russel Westbrook to stand and watch.
Phenomenal talent, LeBron James. But throughout his career he’s been worshipped, often overrated, and compared to Michael Jordan. So that is the standard he is being judged from here.
It’s crazy how he’s managed to shape his narrative (with help from E$PN). The one that feels like the biggest lie, is that LeBron is “alone” or has to do it all himself. He chooses to do it himself, while everybody stands and watches. It’s his way, or not at all. This is not the best we’ve seen from Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, or the other Hall of Famers that have played with LeBron. There’s a long list of talented guys Cavs brought in that never seemed to be allowed to fit in with LeBron. None of these guys played better with LeBron than without. It is role player types that LeBron James makes better. Boobie Gibsons. Shooters and specific role players. If you’re a hall of famer, you will likely not play your best basketball next to LeBron James.