1. LeBron seems upset
Part of having a superstar like LeBron is keeping him happy. Think Magic Johnson demanding a trade in 1981 due to then-coach Paul Westhead not allowing that team to fast break, or Kobe Bryant demanding a trade in 2007 because he was sick of wasting his prime years playing on a bad team.
LeBron is a really smart guy, and he looked to be on board with a short-term building project that would take a year or two. But he’s 34 now, and who knows how much longer he will play at an elite level. He’s the same age Kobe was when he tore his Achilles tendon in 2013.
LeBron needs to win another title or two to really solidify his argument as possibly the Greatest of All Time, despite his own opinion on that. For that to happen, he is painfully aware, like Kobe was in the mid-2000s, that he needs more help.
According to ESPN’s Jackie McMullan, LeBron and his camp want head coach Luke Walton fired, although Walton has taken the Lakers from a downright awful defensive team two seasons ago to eighth in defensive efficiency despite all of their injuries.
Some are even starting to wonder if LeBron might be milking his groin injury, especially after his agent Rich Paul noted that he would be playing if it were the playoffs right now, to force the front office’s hand to either fire Walton or trade for Anthony Davis.
As LeBron said himself early in the season when the Lakers were struggling:
"“You probably don’t want to be around when my patience runs out”"
The self-proclaimed king is signed for the next two seasons after this one, with the season after (2021-22) being a player option. If the Lakers don’t win the NBA championship or at least come close next season, we could be starting to hear noise from LeBron’s camp about him plotting his next destination. After all, he did just that in the middle of his stint in Miami, and early in the 2017 NBA Finals.
LeBron wields an unprecedented amount of power compared to past all-time greats, and in the end, he is loyal to himself. The Lakers must keep him appeased to stay on his good side. This doesn’t mean caving in to his demands, but it simply means doing whatever they can to give him a championship-caliber team to work with by the start of next season.
If they miss out on Anthony Davis and don’t win an NBA title with LeBron, there’s no telling how long it will take them to land someone else on that same level of greatness.
Memo to Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka: strike while the iron is hot.
It’s pretty hot now.