The LeBron Thread (merged)

[Fedor]

I can see why non klutch players wouldnt want to come to LA and play with lebron.
Maybe we’ll hear about rondo calling out james on his **** later this season because we know rondo values veteran leadership and will call em out on it

[Kilroy]

I go back to Magic calling out Luke in public 10 games into the freaking season... This kind of situation is why you don't do that, then...
Because now you have a team of bruised egos, who likely blame the lead player, who also have been shown by management, they also can't take the Coach seriously... And they can no longer trust Magic/Rob...
Who do they turn to for guidance, support, encouragement?... Just their agents I guess, and the other guys who got cyber-shipped...
Which creates a built-in division in the locker room...

The only thing that will fix this if the deal doesn't go through is wins and the playoffs... But the only way we make the playoffs is if LeBron starts plying like god... Because these guys aren't going all in for him now...

If we don't get AD by the deadline, or a real damn good backup plan, this team is in deep ****... And it really all falls on Magic's head considering Rob's essentially nothing more than a yes-man and numbers guy...

[john248]

Lots of crying in this thread.

[stan francisco]

Not a lakers fan but this is so goddamn good....

You may see me handing out +1s left and right, don’t mind me as I’m just checking in on what lakers fans have to say during the Lebron experience/experiment.

I’m a heat fan since the ike Austin-Brian grant days. I wanted to test a change of scenery so went with Minnesota but the fan base and franchise is a joke and disaster. With that said my experience with Lebron has been like watching Bernie Madoff unfolding a masterful Ponzi scheme on innocent well to do people with honest hopes and dreams. Lebron takes your greatest assets and eliminates them, takes any achievements for his own selfish needs while deflecting any wrong doing, eventually leaving you with nothing but lint in your pockets and years of rebuilding (we heat are still trying to rebuild post Lebron and we tried to stay relevant but it wasn’t possible, Cleveland will be in shambles for years to come).

I’ve paid very close attention to this story as I have a love/hate relationship with the lakers (specifically as a heat fan). I’ve hated many of your players most notbanly Kobe and Derrick fisher. But what the lakers have provided the league is undeniable and I absolutely love the brand. The league is better when the lakers are actually good. I’ve even hated some of the young guys like Russell and Ingram for making the lakers brand look stupid. So when Lebron joined you guys I was kind of pissed off. Lebron is using the La brand for his own selfish needs (as usual) he wants to break Kareem scoring record in a lakers jersey which imo is disrespectful to the brand and he also wants to be a media magnate which is disrespectful to the game of basketball, the nba, the city of LA and most importantly the La lakers. Obviously anyone can do what they want but media shouldn’t be more important then Lebrons responsibility to the franchise. The problem is he doesn’t care about the franchise, only what he can steal from you guys. Fame, brand lift and media opportunities. So sadly I agree with miles, I think that thread is wonderful and true but Lebron will probably never be traded as magic and Pelinka would be scared to do it. Even though it would be the right thing to do for THE LAKERS!

With all that said I wish you guys luck in this situation. I hope the lakers doesnt turn into a retirement home, I loved the lakers as an enemy and as a great formidable opponent I’d rather you be my Apollo creed to rocky balboa instead of a place that washed up guys go to set up their post nba career. I wish everyone in here well and I hope Lebron doesn’t ruin your franchise for the interim like he did mine.

Amen. Thanks for being a friendly and smart visitor, and for contributing Heat intelligence on LeGroin that we don’t have.

I agree with all sentiments, especially the part that it won’t happen, at least not until after Magic has left. Never wanted LBJ here either, but couldn’t spend energy fighting it while knowing he’s a Laker for life. Until yesterday.

I see a crack. It’s tiny but I hope that Rob Pelinka and Jeannie pry it wide open before tomorrow is over and trade GM LeGroin to NOP. Your hands won’t have to get dirty Magic.

It could be argued in the media PR campaign after trading LBJ (and a bench player and picks) for AD, that the way things evolved with the AD talks and LBJ’s dinner, his involvement with Klutch; it’s better to break ties now than risking further erosion of team chemistry as things stand.

Klutch would love to trade AD for LBJ.

EDIT: Why? After this blows up all over the media (‘Jeannie Buss and NOP owner override GMs, seek approval of a trade of AD for LBJ, Magic resigns), they’d be inclined to do the trade, and Adam Silver would not allow LBJ and AD on the same team at that point anyway. /EDIT.

Every GM in the league would applaud her for having the balls that they don’t. She can call Demps directly and suggest a three team deal sending LBJ to Minnesota.

It would definitely send a signal to the next star we bring in that they’d better have their team mates in focus, not their media machine.

It should be about the Jeannie led ownership group that pays them. They should defer to her. Magic is too involved to see this objectively. This is a crisis.


By the way, LeGroin’s statement is exactly as expected, spineless. He literally said if you get traded away, you still have a job, not like you got fired. Really? It’s like calling the shutdown a vacation.

He whiffed his shot at repair/healing/redemption with that lame statement, barely walked anything back or set anything straight at all. In fact, the opposite. Me, me, me.

Miles, I hope you’re noticing that I’m finally right there with you. I don’t think this is to be Quixotique about it after his mutiny failed. I think the Lakers now have legit reason to trade him to wherever.

For basketball reasons.

[stan francisco]

I can see why non klutch players wouldnt want to come to LA and play with lebron.
Maybe we’ll hear about rondo calling out james on his **** later this season because we know rondo values veteran leadership and will call em out on it

Great point. Please rip into him with all of that jaw, Rondo. Please. In private, behind locked doors, man to man let him know what you think about that backstabbing the youngs garbage.

I almost hope he punches him in the face in practice and tells the media he did it for the entire team.

Maybe that will help Magic trade him without selling LeGroin out. He just sold you out.

[dAdo dA dEvil]

I can see why non klutch players wouldnt want to come to LA and play with lebron.
Maybe we’ll hear about rondo calling out james on his **** later this season because we know rondo values veteran leadership and will call em out on it

Great point. Please rip into him with all of that jaw, Rondo. Please. In private, behind locked doors, man to man let him know what you think about that backstabbing the youngs garbage.

I almost hope he punches him in the face in practice and tells the media he did it for the entire team.

Maybe that will help Magic trade him without selling LeGroin out. He just sold you out.

I hope when Rondo punches him in the face Ingram comes in and punches LeBron too. Wait I think I saw this before with CP3, yeah, that guy LeBron chose to go with and left his team when all of this punching is happening.

[thebigbird]

LeGroin that triple double and dub.

[SlimShady83]

Lots of crying in this thread.

We have the "The King of cry babys" so I guess it's ok if we cry too

[milesfides]

It's one thing if free agents were willing to step into the "toxic environment" to pick up a ring (*actually no free agent star signed with Lebron's teams - he had to come to them or they were traded to his teams). But why would anybody want to commit to a struggling team in a stacked conference with any aging 40m a year player, let alone Lebron whom nobody wants to play with?

Actually the only one was Anthony Davis, and how could he not be furious at Klutz? Not only did Lebron Inc. fail to execute the trade, but AD suffered a massive hit to his reputation and embarrassingly has to bear our the rest of the season. Nothing short of a catastrophe. It's absolutely unprecedented.

After all that, who would be surprised if Anthony Davis fired Lebron Inc.? There's no guarantee that Davis would want to sign with a clearly aging Lebron, either. What, they pinky promised?

It's likely that New Orleans won't trade with the Lakers, period. So forget next season. So, what's the likelihood of Anthony Davis waiting until 2020-2011 to play with a 36-year-old Lebron?

It's increasingly unlikely, just as it's unlikely that the Lakers could somehow change Kawhi's mind or pry Klay Thompson from Golden State. Is there anything that helped our cause since the last time they wrote us off? It's not happening, people. Considering our front office's standing around the league, as well as Lebron Inc., the best possible move is to move Lebron before he's unmovable. It's coming. We've seen this all before.

And if the front office won't make that move, and instead grasps for straws such as Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng to prop up an aging superstar's corpse, then we need to get rid of Magic and Rob too. These execs always sink the ship after trying to save their own asses.

[ballislife]

Truth is... LBJ is 34, and he DOESN’T have another superstar with him. This season is wasted.

He’s not getting better next yr, another yr older as well.

Happy LBJ is just going to ride off into the sunset. I’m tired of his tampering ways and he egotistic personality.

He rode Wade and Kyrie’s coattails to chips. Thats why he wanted AD. You guys will be lucky if you make the playoffs. LBJ was lucky in the East. This is a reality check for him.

Doesn’t compare to MJ the slightest.

[Spanish_Laker]

Sit it out, Bron. Heal that groin and get ready for next season. This season is already a failure, so gg wp.

[Ugly0598]

Sit it out, Bron. Heal that groin and get ready for next season. This season is already a failure, so gg wp.

Tank the season and get another prospect to play with the kids (BI, Ball, Kuzma), while LeBron builds his brand, creates more drama, and makes more movies.

[Spanish_Laker]

Sit it out, Bron. Heal that groin and get ready for next season. This season is already a failure, so gg wp.

Tank the season and get another prospect to play with the kids (BI, Ball, Kuzma), while LeBron builds his brand, creates more drama, and makes more movies.

This team is broken to pieces at the moment, any other suggestion? Just check the remaining schedule...I'd rather be the 12th seed than the 9th, to be honest.

[myersia]

Anyone ever think maybe it’s too hard trading Lebron? This dude isn’t going to let us trade him. Idk if he has a veto clause but LEbron is not going to sign off on being traded


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[milesfides]

He's not eligible for a no-trade clause. His 4-year $154M contract: $35.65M, $37.43M, $39.21M and $41M (player option).

So the best time to trade him would be this summer, since he would likely opt-out of year 4 to lock his new contract at a higher rate. So he's essentially an expiring in his 3rd season, which would decrease his trade value if the Lakers waited until then.

But this is assuming he's healthy and somehow doesn't decline in the next two years. If he does, then the Lakers have the equivalent of two Luol Deng's on the roster. Yay.

Anyways, I highly doubt Lebron would be interested in spending the next two seasons here if the Lakers can't land Anthony Davis. So I absolutely see him trying to get on whatever team AD lands on, specifically, or another better win-now roster, generally.

No, I can absolutely see a Lebron trade as a distinct possibility. Lebron could care less about the Lakers, he cares about where he can win his next title.

[pb-ceo]

Anyone ever think maybe it’s too hard trading Lebron? This dude isn’t going to let us trade him. Idk if he has a veto clause but LEbron is not going to sign off on being traded


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i am with you. majic won't trade him. I think he retires in purple and gold. I don't think titles are his main thing anymore.

[LakerLegend]

Considering the excitement surrounding Lebron James joining the Lakers, it brings me little joy to point out the obvious.

Lebron is getting old. He turns 34 in December, and this is not only when all great players start to noticeably decline, but it is statistically also when they suffer career-limiting or career-ending injuries. The likelihood of Lebron suffering a catastrophic injury soon is statistically almost a sure thing.

Kobe tore his achilles when he was 34.

Michael Jordan left at 34, but in his first season back with the Wizards, he tore up his knee.

Scottie Pippen dropped off greatly at 33, then struggled with injuries at 35, eventually forcing him to retire.

Shaq had knee surgery at 34, and he was essentially done.

Dominique Wilkins tore his achilles when he was 33. A year later he was playing in Greece.

Charles Barkley tore his quad tendon when he was 31, never was the same after that. Another torn quad forced him to be carried off the court.

James Worthy had to have knee surgery at 31, which forced him to retire a year later.

Tim Duncan was never the same player when he hit 34.

This list goes on and on because father time is undefeated. It is inevitable.

We've all seen this movie before, many, many times. Too many times. But hope is a son of a bitch. It seduces you to rob you of good sense. The Lakers got into bed with Karl Malone and Gary Payton in 2003 and and Nash and Dwight in 2012. And then when they fell apart, we realized the obvious. Hope can make you blind.

Lebron's signing of a 4-year $154m contract was a mistake. It was a mistake like Kobe's extension at the same age. It always is a mistake.

There's still time to fix that mistake. Lebron is still highly valued, but it's a bubble. He's set up for a bank run. One injury, and it's over. A few articles pointing out his fade (Lebron has slipped on defense for two straight seasons), it's over.

Trading him will be a PR nightmare for one season, but that is far more preferable than half a decade of being handcuffed by mediocrity. We've also seen that movie before.

Let's stop being fools. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, the cock crows and we need divine intervention.

I'm really tired of Los Angeles being a slaughterhouse for superstars. Let's let somebody else shoot the elephant for once. It is a beast of enormous burden. Years of watching the blood dry on the carcasses of giants weighs too much on the soul.

I agree with you 100%, but unfortunately this is something that would be a useful discussion before we signed him.

Now that we have, we just have to ride it out. We know Magic isn't going to trade him.

[Slink]

LeBron will never sit out if he's healthy. He wants to pass Kareem in all time points.

[stan francisco]

He sure is. Crying or not, how is he doing repairing the wounds? Everybody is playing for each other, like around Christmas.

Fire Luke?

Fire LeGroin from all further GM-ing responsibilities. Shut down any Kluntz’ influence over our trade interests. No more leaks.

Which means, fire Magic and trade LeGroin.

[Landsberger]

Lots of crying in this thread.

We have the "The King of cry babys" so I guess it's ok if we cry too

What?!... wait.... we have CP3 on the team?