The Los Angeles Lakers may have made countless headlines by pairing LeBron James with his eldest son Bronny, but the 17x NBA champions have yet to make significant additions apart from its two draft picks.
At 39, The King‘s championship window is closing but the purple and gold have been quiet on the trade market and free agency. Even so, LeBron is only focusing on what he can do instead of evaluating the front office.
“As it stands for me right now personally, my only mindset is to come back and be ready to go to work every single day no matter who’s there,” James said, via NBA reporter Mark Medina. “That’s just me, I’ve always been that. That’s not that far away obviously, but when it gets to that point, my jersey goes on, my shorts go on the same way and my work ethic never changes so I look forward to that when it happens.”
The Lakers have made big moves by making a coaching change and re-signing both Max Christie and James, but many believe it’s time they start engaging in trade talks or free agency signings. In the meantime, LeBron is not putting any pressure on Rob Pelinka.
LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on November 25, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Lakers defeated the Cavaliers 121-115.
“My expectation is for us to go to work every day, try to get better every day and push each other every day. Me as the captain, AD as the captain, we gotta hold everybody accountable from a players standpoint,” James added. “We’re coming in with a new system so we have to learn the system and see what Coach Redick and the rest of the coaching staff want us to do and then go from there.”
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The Lakers seem to be back when an impressive resurgence in the second half of the 2022-23 saw them make the Conference Finals. But they only took steps back in the following year.
After struggling for consistency throughout the regular season, the Lakers had to earn a playoff berth in the Play-In, but their #7 seed forced them to play defending champions Nuggets in the very first round.
Darvin Ham is no longer at the helm, so all eyes now are on rookie head coach JJ Redick. The most important thing is the core of LeBron and Anthony Davis is still in LA, but the last few seasons prove the duo may not be enough to go the distance.
