On account of coming off a disappointing first year with the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James needs to play with an extra edge this coming season.
This past season LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers experienced something he is not accustomed to. The accomplished athlete failed to lead the Lakers to the playoffs, whereas in the prior eight seasons, his teams made NBA Finals appearances.
As a result, the not so ideal outcome led to many folks wondering if James deserved to stripped of “the best in the world” title. Everyone expected James to essentially lead Los Angeles to the promise land. On the contrary, the Lakers unfortunately never made it out of the scorching desert.
Given James’ track record and elite status in general, the weight placed upon his shoulders from the onset was certainly sensible. The franchise along with its respective fans demanded something more than they got in 2018-2019.
Frankly, it is not like LeBron was a lost cause this past campaign. The man still managed to put up fine averages. Scattered over 55 appearances, the veteran averaged 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 8.3 assists a night for the purple and gold.
One unsightly number amid all of that are the amount of games he played in. Prior to his first season with the Lakers, James never missed so much time in his illustrious career.
That being said, one can only hope James (and the rest of the Lakers for that matter) can remain fairly healthy this time around. Their chances of winning a championship depend largely on that factor alone.
Thankfully the 2019-2020 version of the Lakers should be much better positioned to compete than they were 12 months ago. Despite losing DeMarcus Cousins for what is likely the entirety of the year, the team has a lot of depth surrounding James. Of course, the purple and gold also happen to have a pretty special guy in terms of Anthony Davis.
On that note, James could arguably post a stronger stat line than he did during his trial run in Hollywood. At the bare minimum, it is fair to speculate a modest increase in the assists department may occur.
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Let alone the exceptional talent Davis is, the Lakers possess multiple good outside shooters. Therefore, in situations where James gets trapped in the paint, he will have options in terms of who to pass the rock to.
Certainly, one area James could improve in is his free throw percentage. The four-time MVP shot a paltry 66.5 percent from the charity stripe during his first season with the Lakers. Especially in clutch time, he was not always reliable, so fans can only hope he will show more consistency in that realm next year.
Moreover, there is another area many would like to see a better version of LeBron this coming autumn. That particular department is the defensive end of the floor.
After James returned from his groin injury, it was clear this aspect of his game took a hit. His cardiovascular health did not always appear to be as robust as games wore on, per the fact that younger players took advantage of The King quite a bit. It became easier for them to drive by James for an easy deuce in comparison to how things normally were in the past.
The positive thing to consider here is that James has had time to refuel this summer. Although he did not play in the postseason, the silver lining here is that he did not have to endure another grueling couple months of basketball.
Consequently, it is reasonable to think James could enter the forthcoming season with a ferocious, fiery vengeance. He has had a lot of time on his side of late, so he will get the opportunity to make the 2018-2019 season a distant memory.
Albeit James is getting no younger, it is not implausible to say LBJ could reclaim his title as the world’s best this year. He definitely boasts a better supporting cast than he did previously, which could boost his chances of putting together an MVP cailber campaign.
However, even if James does not return to MVP form ever again, there is no reason to believe he is rapidly spiraling downhill. He still had a solid 2018-2019 season, which was expected from the generational player.
Nevertheless, because the Lakers’ 2018-2019 season was a gargantuan disappointment, James should play with an extra bounce in his step in the time to come.
He does not really have to demonstrate his talent at this point in time. Everyone knows what LeBron James is capable of.
Be that as it may, the Lakers have not been in the playoff picture for a half dozen years now. Accordingly, it is not impractical to believe James will play like an extraterrestrial being in year 17 of what has already been a sensational career.
In all sincerity, a huge part of the Lakers’ fate is contingent on him. How he performs could very well be the difference between a playoff berth and banner No. 17.