“The league believes Sandro Mamukelashvilli is headed to the Lakers. That’s what people in the league believe. And he would basically replace Rui Hachimura.”
- Brian Windhorst just now on NBA Today
He was better and exceeded all expectations. 1 championship was enough to cement himself and in hindsight we were never too far away from contention cause of his presence and AD. Cant thank him enough for making Laker games meaningful again.
He simply reinvented what it meant to be a superstar in his mid to late 30s and early 40s in his time here as well. I think if the Lakers brass had known he’d be as good as he was for the last 4 years they would’ve been more aggressive. He was supposed to be washed and retired.
LeBron James, Laker Champion
LeBron James’ Lakers tenure has ended at 8 seasons, his longest stretch with a single team in his career. That meant eight offseasons and eight trade deadlines — sixteen transaction cycles of news, excitement, chaos, and exhaustion. It feels almost impossible to take a breath and step back, but I’ll try.
The one thing that I think has absolutely been forgotten is the state of the Lakers when LeBron James arrived. Lakers ownership had just finished firing the owner’s brother, hiring a first time President of Basketball, a first time GM, had a roster full of young, but unproven talent - and most importantly, they were absolutely rudderless. Let’s be very clear here: the Lakers were on their way to being a decade-long mediocrity. LeBron James didn’t go the Kawhi route and demand a trade for a co-star, he just signed with the team, and for that I will be forever grateful. He WAS the franchise savior, there is no other way to view that.
Now, the Klutch angle. The Lakers may bristle at being “pushed around” to do things like trade for Anthony Davis. But look at what the Lakers were doing that same offseason. They insulted and low-balled Ty Lue. Then, on the day they introduced Frank Vogel — the guy who had originally agreed to be the lead assistant — Magic Johnson went on television and trashed everything about the organization. So yeah, you got pushed around by Klutch to trade for AD, and thank god for that.
LeBron would go on to carry the franchise to a championship, the same year that he carried them through the untimely death of Kobe Bryant, followed by a global pandemic. I was asked on a podcast appearance I did the day LeBron signed about my expectations as far as championships, my answer: Set the over/under at 0.5. LeBron hit the over. Mission accomplished, end of story.
Were there lows that followed? Was the Russell Westbrook trade the worst trade of all time? I think so, and I think it’s stupid to pretend that LeBron didn’t push for that either - of course he did, it was a mistake, and it ended the title window for the team. But LeBron didn’t make the trade himself, I’d be much more amenable to the fact that LeBron James and Klutch were some overbearing pains in the asses if the organization actually had their own basketball principles and philosophies to fall back on. To date, I have seen no evidence of that.
I find myself defending LeBron today and his legacy as a Laker, but at the same time I don’t blame anybody for the relationship ending today. This was a relationship that had its ups and downs and both sides find themselves at a crossroads where saying goodbye is the most logical outcome. The Lakers have to build their franchise around their next centerpiece in Luka Doncic, and while LeBron James gave Luka the space to be himself, LeBron’s stature is too large for this team to not take it’s cues from him - it is time for the franchise to become Luka’s, fully and unmistakably. For LeBron, whether it’s commuting to San Francisco, or ending his story book career where it started, I can appreciate how those options just feel better to him today.
LeBron’s Lakers tenure was messy, political, dramatic, and eventually exhausting. But that cannot be separated from what came before him: a franchise with no direction, no credibility, and no obvious path back to relevance. He chose the Lakers without demanding a co-star first. He made them matter again. He helped deliver Anthony Davis. He won a championship. Everything after that can be debated, but the central fact cannot: LeBron James came to Los Angeles and did the job.
LeBron James, Laker Champion
No, THANK YOU! Truly a honor to wear the 💜💛 while trying to continuing the greatness & legacies that came before me! Hope I made a few proud during my stint. 🙏🏾🫡👑
@CuffsTheLegend Lakers get to stick with Pelinka and his constant failure and snake oil selling persona. We deserve whatever the next chapter of failure brings for not winning more chips with Bron in 8 years.
🚨 BREAKING:
Iranian military spokesperson:
Trump is just a pawn in Netanyahu's hands and is being pressured by the Mossad due to his involvement in the Epstein case.
@Thechat101 I aint hard to find. Better sit his old ass down somewhere with all that “Boy” talk!!! Because we definitely can talk it out or we can get our feet hot. The choice is his
I saw some of yall “big account” lames subbing me yesterday, so imma do the same. Yall work for podcast companies & hate on me when my name gets brought up & I still run circles around you. Get that hate out your heart. #DoneDeal