Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James closes out win over Golden State Warriors, 4 lessons
By Ronald Agers
LeBron James is officially on cruise control until the All-Star break.
The rest of the NBA media will cover for LeBron this week. We’ve already seen the dunk to honor Kobe Bryant and the dagger to end this game.
Fortunately for basketball purists that know better already can see through the propaganda. LeBron James is coasting along just like he usually has done throughout his career.
Don’t believe it. Well, film doesn’t lie. The game just started right?
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1226329073443471361
LeBron James scored 22 points, dished out 11 assists and grabbed eight rebounds. For the second straight game, he was sloppy with the ball committing seven turnovers. At least in the post-game press conference he admitted that it was an issue.
The same bad habits LeBron James exhibited last year has been on full display for the last two games. The difference between last year and this year is Anthony Davis can bail him out of games like this one. The young core couldn’t.
Last year Golden State had stars on their team and this year the Warriors brought out a bunch of G League players and two-way players celebrating brand new guaranteed NBA contracts.
Sure, the LeBron fans will flood the comment section using their favorite term of “hating”, but Lake Show Life has seen this movie before. Bad habits are being formed in front of the Lakers Nation as of this writing.
The record is impressive but a closer look shows that the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t played their toughest stretch of the season yet. Furthermore, after the All-Star break, it is an unofficial start for the playoff run.
Let James play games like this and see what happens. The number one seed is not guaranteed.
But LeBron will continue to get quotes like this talking about legacy and carrying the torch for Kobe Bryant from Steve Kerr via ESPN.
"“You are talking about two of the greatest players in the history of the game. LeBron is already doing that. He was doing that most of his career,” Kerr said. “Once he established himself as one of the very best, he was carrying on the legacies of previous greats. It’s how this league works. It will be very emotional tonight for all of us to honor Kobe.”"
Let’s see if it’s enough for the Los Angeles Lakers fans if they lose to the Clippers.