LeBron James Discussion: Not Returning To The Lakers

As a Cowboys fan, for some reason, I am still not 100% sold on Dak Prescott. I know he passes the eye test, he can make almost all the throws, he doesn't make mistakes...he seems to be great. But that 4th round thing sticks in the back of my head. If he was drafted in the first or even second round, I probably would be all in on him despite that having zero to do with his actual performance.

But Brady the luckiest? I mean, you can luck your way into a couple Superbowls...Eli Manning comes to mind. You don't luck your way into 5 freaking Superbowls. You don't lead a team to an undefeated regular season by rolling dice.

 

As an unfortunate Rams fan, I'd love to trade you Goff for Prescott.

 

Sure! We'll even throw in all those picks you gave up for him.

 

The king of subtweets. You want to call somebody out, then actually call them out.

Spoiler: Language

 

You are whistling in the dark. It's gonna happen. You might as well get your body ready for it.

 

I want him on the team. Short of beating or murdering someone, he gives us the best chance to win.

I want him all day and twice and Sundays in a Laker uniform.

 

I'm with you in not liking it. I'm just resigned to the reality that there is no stopping it. Plus Magic loves him some LeBron.

 

I don't see how we can definitively say he kills any kind of vibe. Because of what? His public feud with Irving? I'm not inclined to take anyone's side on that. In fact, I think Irving is being stupid in this whole debacle. I don't care if LeBron is a diva. You know what vibe he brings? Finals appearances. I'll deal with that vibe over what we've had the last 7 years.

 

Hey, I don't like LeBron, and I'm going to hate on him as long as he isn't a Laker, because I'll have to stop if he is. But if he WINS us a banner, I'm not gonna whine and want an asterisk on it, I will enjoy every second of it. I just don't think he's going to win us a ring, so with that said I don't mind if he doesn't come here. I definitely prefer George, and I might even prefer Westbrook and George if they come together, they're still young. I don't see Westbrook being an issue next to Ball either, because Ball is so unselfish and he holds the ball so little that those guys would be getting easy baskets from him all day. Only issue with that is where does Ingram play, because at least with LeBron and George, LeBron can probably play PF, Ingram SG.

 

And if he does, we'll have a ring to show for it. What do we have right now? LOL

 

It's a weird feeling "defending" LeBron so much around here. I don't particularly like his antics either, I just don't see why we wouldn't want the guy in a Laker jersey at this stage. A few years ago when Kobe was at his height, yeah sure I get it. Now though? What do we have to show for our Laker pride? Give me a chance to win a title. There's very few people I couldn't stomach in a Laker jersey and LeBron is no longer one of them.

 

I've already stated my case for this. He's been to 7 Finals in a row right? Plus Olympics that's crazy mileage. If LeBron were 28-30 this wouldn't even be a disscussion, but he's not. He will be 33 when we can even sign him, and then turn 34 that first season in December. So we give a 33/34 year old whose game is based quite a bit on athleticism a 4 or 5 year insanely pricey deal? Not ideal to me. I'd go younger with George for sure, and Westbrook with him if possible. I just don't have a lot of faith in a 35, 36, 37 year old LeBron's ability to help us win a title. Other stars will be up and coming by then, if GS is even no longer a threat, while George and Westbrook or maybe someone else will be in their primes still.

Am I resigned already to LeBron probably coming here? Yes, but I feel I have valid reasons for preferring other scenarios. LeBron guarantees Finals appearances in the EAST. In the West he'd be 1st go round Cleveland LeBron trying to get by Boston-like teams with less talent on his side again. In the West all LeBron guarantees is the playoffs. If we want to win it all I'm not opposed to a guy like Westbrook who is the closest to Kobe I've seen in his insane drive to win, paired up with George, Ball and Ingram here.

 

The assumption is LeBron + ______ because LeBron isn't coming here without someone else. With that said, it's likely George and so LeBron + George would absolutely mean we're ahead of the curve even in the West. The only team significantly and assuredly better than a LeBron/George duo would be Golden State.

I don't mind giving a big deal to LeBron because he's the same sort of injury risk as Westbrook and not a headcase like Cousins. After that there's no one within the stratosphere of LeBron talent-wise, so why not him?

I get hating him. I still roll my eyes at the things he does, but that doesn't mean I'm going to turn him away if he comes knocking. If LeBron guarantees us the playoffs for 4 straight years until he retires, is that not enough of a reason to sign him? I mean Westbrook had to play a historic season to drag his team to the playoffs, are we significantly better than his supporting cast? Unless LeBron is busted for PEDs, rapes someone, or murders someone, I'm pretty comfortable betting on him making us better. I don't have to love LeBron, but boy I love the Lakers and I want to compete more than I want to maintain some sort of something else for the kids we have now.