LeBron James is unlike any other 41-year-old that has ever laced up a pair of basketball shoes in the NBA. Even so, asking him to be the first option at this age is a huge thing to demand. Asking him to win a first-round series in a loaded Western Conference with the given circumstances is an Everest-like mountain to climb.
The good news? James, statistically, looked really solid back at the forefront of a team on Sunday. LeBron posted 30 points, nine rebounds, and 15 assists on healthy efficiency. The bad news? The Lakers lost a disappointing 134-128 ball game to a tanking Dallas Mavericks team.
James should get some added help soon. Even without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves back in the immediate future, Marcus Smart's injury return should not take as much time. That will offer some level of reinforcements.
With the way the Lakers are constructed, though, James is going to be burdened with a major offensive load. Where will the offense consistently come from when LeBron is not creating it?
Luke Kennard cannot always be counted upon to deliver unexpected triple-doubles. James is being asked to shoulder a franchise's weight yet again. At 41, those days should have been behind him ages ago.
Lakers have set LeBron up to fail after the Doncic and Reaves injuries
“It was a shot to the heart and the chest and the mainframe with Luka … I woke up from my nap and saw that [Reaves] news and was like, ‘S***,” James told ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
In his shoes, that is an extremely valid reaction.
Imagine going from the soaring heights of what March was for the Lakers to the unmitigated disaster that April has been thus far. Los Angeles is not a city that gets a ton of rain. However, in this instance, it did not just rain — it poured.
James being thrust into the position of being a first option would be one thing. Asking who exactly is the second option that is expected to alleviate the offensive burden off him paints a picture of just how bad this all is.
Is Rui Hachimura going to be a regular 20-point scorer with added opportunity? Will Smart's return provide James with a backcourt partner who can create for himself and others reliably? Does Deandre Ayton finally get to live his dream of being a star?
Do any of those scenarios sound particularly enticing? With all due respect to each of those players, they shouldn't.
Lakers and LeBron fans alike have wasted no time flooding the internet with video edits featuring the 2018 version of James. Asking the aging star to have a run like that again just sets him up for failure.
LeBron should be so far past being put in this type of situation. Alas, James will be (unfairly) asked to bail out a franchise at least one more time in his career.