LeBron James Discussion: Not Returning To The Lakers

Especially at this age you can't close with Bron if he's got no spacing: stars always get the majority of the blame for a loss which is fine but Ham really handcuffed his team.
Let's say we wanted to get AD involved? How was that going to work: Indiana had a good defender to guard him 1v1 in Turner or they could hard show because the lack of spacing.

You can't finish games with Schroeder and Russell. I get it to some extent Ham only has 3 definite players in his closing layup Reaves/Lebron/AD but he's got to with Lonnie and not two smallish PGs who can't really shoot all that well. Plus Russ is a trick or treat player and he's more trick when closing games

 

Agreed with all of that in general, but if Bron can't pass it to AD or be efficient himself if the 3 isn't falling AND we have to rest him on defense because of his age, he's just another overpaid player on this roster.

 

Bron made his bed he’s gonna have to lay in it. He’s going to get the scoring record while in his couch in June watch Curry surpass his legacy

 

Posts like these honestly annoy me that he came to LA and won a title here. That’s ludicrous. Lebron is the only reason this team has even been relevant since he arrived or do you remember a past where our FO was making great decisions before he got here?

Google Luol Deng.

 

can't it be both? i'm grateful for the title and quick to point out that he's factored heavily into his own diminished chances at winning another one.

 

James was in the paint as he was trying to cover Indy guy that was entering the paint, there were 3 lakers converging on 2 pacers, so the breakdown on Def was already happening, whatever else he did and didn't do in the gm I will agree you guys but that last play was a broken play, those tend to lead to opponents getting open shot

 

maybe thats something Ham should've emphasized than, most team play to for a stop of any kind, unfortunately the paint penetration happened same when Haliburton made the game tying layup a play prior which looked so easy for him, who was guarding Haliburton on his gm tying layup?

 

Of course it can be both, it just seems to me that it’s like 95% bashing and 5% “oh yeah, we did win a title in his 2nd year here”.

I’m not saying you specifically are 95/5 at all, just the vibe in general feels split that way which is so odd to me. He’s our superstar lol. Teams would kill for him even at his age.

 

i agree. but the vibes are 95/5 negative on ice cream around here.

 

the last possession the whole team kind of was off on defense. Lebron's defense to start the 4th when the Lakers were up big was a bigger concern

Suspect this will improve after he gets his legs back but it would be nice to get more bodies so he can rest more. Dude is old and the team is more talented than last years by a mile but depth is the thing that is separating them from being a top-tier contender. hello Westbrook trade and letting AC walk again

 

Austin.

 

So, we are supposed to be happy about being a bad team again? If we were in “rebuild mode,” the losses would be expected. I’m not going to list all of the valid reasons as to why some of us are pi$$ed.
Folks are fed up and have every right to call a spade a spade.

 

I do get your point. I think the bashing is from frustration in that we are paying for a superstar and have likely unrealistic expectations of Lebron being a superstar from past performance. He is a superstar now in name only. He is still a very good player that will have great games and could be a big part of us turning our season around to possibly being a playoff team. Austin needs to run the offense and focus on AD. IMO it doesn't matter who is guarding AD, one on one no one can stop him from getting a good shot. When doubled he will have to make the right decisions. This is where Lebron could really make an impact. AD doubled and Lebron cutting hard to the hoop. He is still hard to stop when on the move. When he is just pounding the ball almost anyone can keep him from driving and we end up with one bad forced shot after another. Last nights loss for me is on the coach. We did everything wrong that last nine minutes or however long it was, seemed like a long time...lol.

 

Austin is not a PG, yet he's a star in his role ala Caruso. James just needs to get off the ball period. He can still score, he doesn't need to control the offense. Ham had two PG on the floor with Lebron, but Lebron still is basically running the point. That isn't our best option, and I'm not Lebron bashing. He's played a certain way for almost 20 years, can he adjust? He keeps claiming to want playmaking help, but he always seems to turn those guys into two guards so that he can continue to be the main facilitator. That might work with a Kyrie Irving, or Bradley Beal, those guys are just small two guards called PG. Hell I could live with it IF he made it a point to force feed the ball to AD...but he doesn't even do that anymore.

Still...adjusting takes time, and he just got back but it's an issue moving forward IMO. Ham's idea of us not standing around watching one guy pounding the rock, was NOT directed at Westbrook, it was Lebron. Can Darvin get that message across to the King? Idk...I guess we'll see, but AD should be screaming for the damn ball in every game, from at least the 5 min mark of the 4th IMO. If he doesn't get it, he should be into Lebron's chest after the game. The baton passing needs to commence here shortly IMO.

 

AD should do this, but I don’t think he has any alpha dog in him. It’s going to take LeBron deciding to force feed The Brow. Will he do this if it means it may take until next season to surpass Kareem? I wouldn’t bet on it, but if he does, he will get a lot of respect from hardened Laker fans.