If you were the head coach of the Lakers, how would you utilize LeBron James going into his 20th year?
Lake Show Life’s take:
LeBron’s season was the perfect example of the constant contradiction between analytics (stats) and championship aspirations (playing winning basketball). It didn’t take long for Lake Show Life to understand that teams had no issues with LeBron James stacking up big numbers while walking out of NBA arenas with wins.
It won’t take long to see if the Lakers as a organization is serious about turning around their fortunes before the LeBron James era ends. Ham needs to get an offensive scheme that has LeBron playing more off of the ball on offense coupled with defending and rebounding better on the defensive end.
Sure, the conversations were positive in the beginning (It’s easy to discuss plans with LeBron over the summer) but the true test will be during the season if the Lakers start out slow. Coach Ham talks accountability as one of his promises to Lakers fans…
Well, LeBron James will be the litmus test to see if that promise is fulfilled.
Bottom line: The Los Angeles Lakers will be right back in the same position fighting for a play in tournament spot if LeBron James is the team’s most productive player. This is documented information last year and nothing has changed other than the overriding confidence repeating it this season.
If LeBron can’t be the best player on the team the who should be? Taking injuries out of the equation (even though its the first qualifier), it’s Anthony Davis. Jason Terry delved into AD’s part of this difficult puzzle while discussing a very important assistant on the Lakers new staff.
Read on…