LeBron James Discussion: Not Returning To The Lakers

lol, ok sam quinn. the whole reason this is a story is because we DIDN'T do a nets deal. that's why lebron's mad. how are you missing this, sam?

 

I think AD may be smart enough to realize that unless LeGM somehow signs on with a real contender for peanuts, his window for competing for a Chip is sealed shut.
If LeBron does leave after next season, which I hope happens, I won’t be too disappointed if AD will want out as well.

 

if AD has self-confidence, he'll think that him + laker brand + 50 million in cap space is among his best possible situations.

 

Possibly. We will see.

I would have considered taking WB on a bench role. But I am considering it now.

We have to move on from him. I think a lot of things get solved when he's off the roster - depending on the transaction.

 

Lebron isn't going anywhere and AD isn't getting traded. Bronny will be a 2nd rd pick by the Lakers, and sent to the G League to see if he develops. The caveat for the Lakers, will be that Lebron will be willing to play on a vet minimum. Everyone wins. All this stuff is a bunch of noise.

Of course things get interesting if Bronny pulls an AD, and grows about 6 more inches by his senior year.

 

Meh..Lebron James will be 38 years old next season. I can't imagine we will be making any major moves with Lebron in mind. Enhancing AD, that's the focus, because he most definitely isn't getting traded.

 

they made a trade with a 37yr old Bron in mind, whats another year gona change that dynamic? he still more impactful player than a 9yr younger AD

 

as for james, its time to pay up, he'll bounce like Mia/Clev (2nd time)while we carry on with literally no 1st picks for the next 3-4 yrs and a britle AD who will get disgruntled of losing like his pelican days

 

lebron's not going anywhere unless he demands a trade out of LA or until he signs with whatever team drafts bronny

remember, the main reason he signed with the lakers was because he wanted to be based in LA in order to get the wheels rolling on his post-NBA life. he's not going to want to get up and leave for a year to play elsewhere. having a shot at the scoring record is the most important thing to him along with playing on the same team as his son

 

i know everyone is on the "AD sucks" train, but i have serious doubts about the veracity of this claim at this point. lebron's not lebron anymore. it happens. the public is kind of slow to pick up on it. for example, he won the utah game with some big shots. but several of those weren't good shots and are shots he's missed in close games this year. more importantly, the reason he was mad was that utah had been targeting him defensively all game, imo. they were hunting him because his lateral movement was sluggish and he wasn't fully interested in playing defense (as has been the case all year). you could see the final straw when snyder had bogdanovic crowd him 28ft from the basket because they weren't afraid of him torching bogdanovic off the dribble. lebron clearly (and correctly) took it as disrespect. but the larger story is there's no way snyder does all that he did in that game even two years ago. he would have risked being blown out instead of losing because lebron got hot from three.

anyway, long story short: the non-moves at the deadline were a signal that management also knows lebron isn't lebron anymore. and he's mad about that, too. his passive aggressive shots via the press are his version of raining threes on quinn snyder--a short term rage at a larger loss. we're not going to mortgage the future for lebron this summer. and yes, that might make him ask for a trade. and that's ok. i think it's within his rights to do so. we got our ring, and he can go chase another one with a team that's willing to whatever he asks. i think that will be a shorter list now, though.

 

I don't think he's going anywhere until Bronny enters the league and even then, I think it's just as likely that Bronny is a Laker as it is Bron leaves and joins him elsewhere. The all star weekend quotes were intended to apply pressure on the front office to get better this summer and not punt his last real shot at having a championship run. He doesn't want to be on 3 different teams in consecutive years, if he leaves that's what would happen. Ultimately he came here for non basketball reasons, those reasons are still all Los Angeles based.

It's all just huffing and puffing.

 

just as long as he doesn't get to blow our house down, i don't care.

 

What if he wants us to trade AR next year for a proven vet?

 

would depend on who the vet is and a lot of other variables (what's our cap situation, who else is moving, etc.). i love reaves, but he's not good enough to be untouchable. i would have traded caruso for the right upgrade, too, despite my undying love for him.

and tbh, i'm sure he probably wanted us to trade reaves this year! but again, we didn't. that would have been some magic johnson stuff.

 

It's interesting to see Lebron lose favor with fans

I will be more interested in watching after he's gone, but surprised it has happened after he had so much support for a period of time

I have never found him likable. He'll never be a Laker to me. He won't belong in the rafters or to have his number retired here, and if we do those things, I think it's a slap in the face to our franchise history, to fans, and to the all time Laker greats who spent their careers here.

He hasn't earned it yet IMHO, and right now outside of the championship season, he has been underwhelming as far as results and his impact on putting together a roster being LeGM. Trying to throw our leadership under the bus because he didn't get his way is such a bad look that even his agent is making calls to do damage control. Push back is real. They feel it.

Now behave and go out there and shut up and dribble/do your job. Play basketball, make your team better, lead them, and make the whole better than the sum of the parts. Nobody wants to hear about anything else including going back to Cleveland, playing with your undrafted talent level son, or anything post contract with the Lakers.

The Lakers have basically given him carte blanche since he has been here. If this manchild whines like a little b**** because he didn't get his way this once, then kick him to the curb next season. Laker Nation will stand behind the franchise, and he will be a footnote in our great history. Send him to Siberia somewhere to get his scoring record.

/end rant

 

I don't like how he's passive aggressive and holding this franchise hostage, but i'm still extremely thankful he chose to come to the Lakers when no other star wanted to and also delivered a championship. He deserves IMO to have his jersey retired regardless of how all this recent drama plays out. Even if for example, his time ends with us unceremoniously.

 

didnt say AD sucks, i said hes brittle and yes even declining bron is still more impactful than AD

 

While he was being a good citizen here and not manifesting his baggage from the past, as he has started to do and ramp up all the old baggage, starting with the horrible Russ decision and tantrum now that the FO wasn't going to bend over to bail him out of that mistake to the future of the Lakers detriment (yet anyway, but the summer may say, "hold my beer") ..... yes it's "interesting" but also understandable. We were trash and not even making the playoffs (even if we had kids we liked and rooted for, gathered from all the horrible records) with no worthy free agents giving us the time of day. He changed all that soon as he came and we did get a ring. Now with the crappy behavior again on display .... f*** him.

 

Pay him to go home and not play till his contract is up. At least we can save Kareem's record. That is all he is after now anyway. Kareem (the real GOAT) was a team player his entire career.