Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James season in review

Ever since LeBron James took his talents to Hollywood with the Los Angeles Lakers, he has fluctuated from one role to another, just to find himself lost and in need of help

LeBron James has taken Hollywood by storm ever since becoming a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s produced various highly successful works, including HBO’s show “The Shop,” which has drawn immense praise from critics. This summer he will be filming the newly revamped “Space Jam 2,” a film that will likely dominate the box office for months after its release.

However, despite LeBron’s purposeful plans in his business ventures off the court, he has struggled to discover his ideal role for the Los Angeles Lakers.

This article is less a season review about basketball than it is about the inner workings of team chemistry and how we should expect a leader to conduct himself. While some may slot other players’ talent above The King due to his team’s drastic slide in standings, many still abide by their longheld opinion that LeBron still is the best player in the world at his peak.

The offensive side of the ball remains utterly dominated by LeBron when he is on the court. He put up his usual game averages of 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 8.3 assists this season. His box plus/minus was 7.9, and he still tallied up an estimated 7.3 win shares, per Basketball-Reference. It’s still undoubtedly clear that LeBron James resides at the top of player rankings, but it’s this season’s off-court drama that has muddied the waters of his greatness.

For someone so intelligent and firm in his business decisions, it’s perplexing to consider the way LeBron approaches his duty as a teammate. Some days he will be remarkably encouraging, while others he will isolate his teammates through cutting remarks. He is simultaneously the King on the Court and the King of Petty Drama off of it.

There have been two characters LeBron has inhabited throughout the course of the season. The first was an empathetic mentor mixed with a superhero. Imagine morphing Batman with his trusted advisor Alfred; this is essentially the role LeBron took on to start the season.

But after the groin injury, he gradually deviated from this positive archetype, becoming Regina George from “Mean Girls.” He began sitting three seats away from his teammates during games, throwing Luke Walton under the bus through reports out of his ‘camp,’ and flirted with other superstars while completely disregarding his teammates.