Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James is ready to commit to a fast pace

Ever since Magic Johnson took over as president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers, his vision has been to bring “Showtime” back to the purple and gold. Now with LeBron James, a few savvy vets and some young, promising guns in the fold, it looks like it’s just starting to take shape

During the go-go decade of the 1980’s, the Los Angeles Lakers once and forever defined their mystique and image by playing a style of ball that was defined by fast breaks, slam dunks and quick hitters early in the shot clock. It was known simply as “Showtime”, and it led to five NBA world championships, as they became arguably the greatest NBA team of all time by mid-decade.

It happened thanks to a perfect storm of events which started with the franchise having the good fortune to draft one Earvin “Magic” Johnson with the first pick in the 1979 NBA draft. When Johnson announced he was HIV positive and had to retire in November 1991, the curtain closed on Showtime.

There would be another glorious era ahead in the decade of the 2000’s, as Kobe Bryant helped lead the franchise to another dynasty that also brought a championship ring for every finger. But this one was all about Phil Jackson and his triangle offense, which was a slower, more hypnotic style of play.

Now that LeBron James has taken his talents to Venice Beach and has been joined by Rajon Rondo and Lonzo Ball, among others, the Lakers seem poised to bring back Showtime, or at least a good imitation of it to the city of angels.

Luke Walton, now in his third season as Laker head coach, is fully committed to the uptempo game, and when his team hasn’t been immersed in defensive drills during training camp, they have been working on how exactly they will react and produce when they beat the other team’s defense down the court.

According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Walton even put tape on the court in the corners as his way of reminding his wing players to flare out to the three point line when sprinting downcourt on every change of possession.

The son of Hall of Famer Bill Walton has given his players the liberty and directive to push the pace all game long, even after made baskets.

"“If the ball is going through the net, we have a specific player we want to take it out and everyone goes,” Walton said. “If it’s a deflection or rebound, and you’re the designated player, then if you get it, push it yourself, and if you were the point guard, you get out.”"

The biggest piece to this fast paced puzzle is none other than LeBron James. Since coming to the NBA in 2003, he has garnered comparisons to Magic Johnson for his great ability to take the ball coast to coast at an insane pace and make plays either for himself or his teammates.

For his part, the self-proclaimed King has given his blessing to this style and has apparently committed to it, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

"“You see those young legs out there,” James told Yahoo Sports. “We would be stupid not to utilize that as a strength. That’s just good coaching.”"

The interesting thing is that thus far in his career, LeBron’s teams have by and large played at a slow pace. During his first stint in Cleveland from 2003-10, the Cavs finished no higher than 13th in the league in pace – and that 13th place ranking came in LeBron’s rookie year. After that, their pace ranking gradually fell until reaching 25th in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10.

When Lebron was a member of the Miami Heat, they were a feared team in transition. However, they too were never actually a fast-paced team, as they never ranked higher than 16th in pace. Upon returning to Cleveland, the trend continued, although they improved to 15th and 12th in pace in Lebron’s last two seasons there.

Since he was a rookie, the NBA has fully transitioned from a league where teams walked the ball upcourt and seemed afraid to look to run, to a league where small ball, uptempo offenses and 120-110 games have become the norm.

In the Lakers second preseason game on Tuesday, October 2 against Denver, the running game was starting to take shape. They scored a robust 27 fast break points, had 28 assists and had some open court highlight plays in the first half.

The concern, however, is that LeBron will be turning 34 on December 30, and he has tons of mileage on him from playing in the championship series the last eight years in a row. From all indications so far, it looks like he’ll share the duties of pushing the pace with Rajon Rondo, Lonzo Ball and maybe even Brandon Ingram to a certain extent. Diversifying the Lakers’ running game like that, along with limiting Lebron’s minutes throughout the regular season, seems like a good formula to keep him fresh for what will hopefully be a long postseason several months from now.

It seems like anything is possible for the purple and gold this season, from missing the playoffs to possibly reaching the NBA finals or even winning it all. Regardless, it looks like Showtime will be back in some shape or form, and it’s a style and ethos that the Los Angeles area and Hollywood is sure to devour.