2. The Lakers have Lebron James
After waiting with bated breath for him to recover from his groin injury, LeBron finally did against the Clippers on January 31 and delivered an overtime win against a team that they are trying to chase in the standings.
Even though he isn’t back in game shape and probably hasn’t fully asserted himself since coming back, he has averaged 23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 11 assists on 47.3 percent shooting in the five games he’s played since his injury.
This shows us that LeBron is probably still the best player in the game. Even if you don’t believe he is anymore, there are few better than him in the league right now.
You can say many not-so-edifying things about LeBron, but you can also say that he’s a world champion three times over. One criticism that some had of him for a long time was that he was a frontrunner who needed the best team and best talent around him to win an NBA title.
His 2016 championship after trailing 3-1 in the NBA finals seemed to prove that he can come through under extreme pressure as an underdog. His performance in last year’s playoffs leading a good-but-not-great Cleveland team to the championship series while being consistently clutch for the first time in his career seemed to further that notion.
The other guys on this team may not have a high ceiling in terms of their level of play on any given night. But on any given night, LeBron can play at the highest level a basketball player can possibly play at, such as the 44 points (on 13-of-19 shooting), 10 rebounds, nine assists and three blocks he had in the Lakers’ November 14 win against Portland.
An all-time great like that can elevate his team above the sum of its parts and help them win a game against a more talented opponent, especially when said all-time great has extra motivation.