The Los Angeles Lakers have made it no secret that they would love to have Lebron James on the roster next season, but some Lakers fans aren’t that interested in seeing Lebron in purple and gold next season.
Over the last 5 years, it has been a common theme with the Los Angeles Lakers that they have not been able to attract big name free agents to come and play for the purple and gold. Apparently, the bright lights and Hollywood vibe hasn’t been enough to entice players to join this legendary franchise.
The new regime of Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka were brought in to turn things around. From day one, they have been on the record saying that they want to have possibly up to two max free agents join the Lakers during the upcoming summer.
The obvious name that has been thrown around a lot has been Lebron James. He is the best player in the world in most people’s eyes. Any time there is a player of Lebron James stature in free agency, most teams, and their fans, will not hesitate in wanting to acquire him.
However, there have been some Los Angeles Lakers fans who are less than thrilled about having Lebron James join the purple and gold.
The way I see it there are three groups of people who are opposed to having Lebron James join the Lakers next season. You have the first group of people who genuinely think that Lebron James is just not a good fit, basketball-wise, on the Lakers.
They see Lebron as a ball dominant player, believing that he will take some development away from the young players, particularly Lonzo Ball.
Other people don’t want him to join the Lakers because they think that he would be a threat to the legacies of some of the greatest players in Los Angeles Lakers history.
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Now, I understand that some Lakers fans might actually feel threatened by Lebron James and feel that if he were to come to the Lakers and win a title that it would put him over Laker legends such as Magic Johnson or Kobe Bryant.
Realistically, it means something to wear the purple and gold. It will take many years and plenty of titles before Lebron James could ever come close to reaching legendary Laker status as Kobe and Magic have done.
Then there is the group that I am in. In the past, Lebron James has been known to come to a franchise and take over the team. Sure, whatever team he is on will be an instant contender, but my fears are about what is going to happen when Lebron James decides to leave the Lakers.
It has been well documented that Lebron James prefers to play with veteran players and is more than willing to request that his team trade any player in order to acquire the type of players that he wants to play with.
That’s all good until Lebron decides to leave. The first go around in Cleveland after he left, the Cavaliers seemingly had the No. 1 overall pick in the draft every year. One of those picks included one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history, Anthony Bennett.
During his stint in Miami, he facilitated the arrival of a lot of their players including Ray Allen, Shane Battier, and Chris Bosh.
After winning two championships in four years, Lebron James decided to leave the Miami Heat in 2014.
The following season, the Heat went 37-45 and missed the playoffs. This latest four-year run in Cleveland is rumored to be coming to an end. If that is the case, I foresee a very familiar fate for the Cavaliers once Lebron James is gone.
My point is, the Lakers have done so much in the past two years to drag themselves out of the gutter. Magic Johnson once said that it was his goal to make sure that the Lakers achieve long-term success.
I just don’t want to see Magic Johnson mortgage the future of the Lakers for short-term success or give in to Lebron’s demands just to say that the Lakers were good for a few years or for as long as Lebron James decides to stay on the roster.
I’m not 100 percent opposed to Lebron James joining the Lakers, but I can see why some Lakers Fans might have their worries.
Next: 3 Reasons Signing LeBron James Is A Bad Idea
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.