Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James season in review
The Superhero/Mentor LeBron
Prior to LeBron’s groin injury on Christmas day, the Lakers were surging and heading to the playoffs. Every one had appeared to buy into one another and Luke Walton’s system, as seen through their viral bench celebrations, overcomplimentary nature of speaking when talking to the media, and Lance Stephenson‘s seemingly new passion for air guitar. This seamless forging of NBA misfits was in large part a result of the team’s leader fully engaging himself.
LeBron was incredible at the start of the season, as seen in the video above. HIs visit to Miami was one of his best games of the year. He went for 51 points on an insanely efficient 61.3% shooting, including a 6-of-8 outing from the 3-point line.
The rest of November was also a significant success for The King and his team. During the month, the Purple & Gold went 10-4, their best monthly record of the season. LeBron averaged 28.3 ppg on an absurd 61.6 true shooting percentage. Due to Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram missing multiple games in November, the 34-year-old superstar was tasked with a heavier workload. He embraced the challenge the way everyone expected he would.
He performed like a superhero during these months, consistently putting the team on his massive shoulders and carrying them to victory. The season had begun to look like one of the best yet for LeBron, and a potential MVP award started surfacing itself in the distance.
However, despite LeBron’s herculean effort and statistical output throughout the first stretch of the season, his most valuable task was serving as a mentor to the young teammates he’d taken on when signing with the Lakers.
Many justifiably worried over how he would mesh with younger players due to his poor track record with developing prospects and Father Time’s ticking clock hovering over every game LeBron plays. At first, he seemed determined to prove this specific critique wrong.
LeBron wasn’t hesitating to praise his young supporting cast at this time of the season. During post-game interviews, he’d consistently compliment Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma for their skill on the court.
This admiration was evident when watching the team play, as LeBron would continually go out of his way to find Ingram a mismatch in the post or throw a dime to Kuzma off of a back cut. But it was Lonzo Ball who received the loftiest compliments from The King.
When watching Lonzo play, it’s evident that he lacks confidence during the most crucial of times. This infuriates Laker fans, who all can clearly see how innately talented the Chino Hills prodigy is when he performs with no hesitation. LeBron took on the role many fans hoped he would, as he went out of his way to lift up the young point guard. This fondness for Ball was clearly exhibited in one specific postgame comment.
Sometimes it’s easy to wonder whether LeBron is speaking genuinely or simply bloviating about any given topic, but his infatuation with Zo’s game is undoubtedly authentic.
LeBron has been a massive fan of the Big Baller’s skillset ever since Magic Johnson selected him as the second overall pick. He went to one of Zo’s first Summer League games to watch him from the stands. After the Lakers played the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2017-18 season, LeBron brought Zo over and provided him with words of wisdom.
Perhaps it’s due to the unrivaled popularity of Lonzo and his family or the starkly similar passing abilities between the two players, but LeBron has always appeared to think the world of Zo.
This was never more evident than in the Lakers’ December 15th matchup against the Charlotte Hornets. Both LeBron and Lonzo posted triple-double stat lines, which was the first time two teammates accomplished this feat since Jason Kidd and Vince Carter had in 2007.
What was even more encouraging than the record itself was LeBron’s reaction to Lonzo clinching his 10th rebound. Every player on the bench was screaming from the sidelines in anticipation for Lonzo, as the Lakers continued dominating the Hornets in the fourth quarter.
Once the point guard finally gobbled up his final rebound on an impressive putback, the bench erupted in joy. LeBron was the first one to greet Lonzo, embracing him with an emphatic hug to congratulate him.
This was the best version of LeBron all season long. Not only was he dominating every game individually, but he was also mentoring his young teammates and aiding in their development.
Unfortunately, this role came to an end on Christmas Day. Once LeBron went down with his infamous groin injury, he shifted behavior from a positive role model to a toxic teammate. He went from an Alfred/Batman combo to Regina George in the blink of an eye.