In anticipation of a false narrative to come

[stan francisco]

We can all predict the false narrative coming around the corner:

I can hear it already on my imaginary ESPN feed some two or three games from now: “LBJ was out for 17 games. The baby Lakers went 6-11 without him. With LBJ, their winning percentage is so and without him they suck ass. He IS the king who single handed took the otherwise helpless Lakers into the playoffs”.

Nothing could be more skewed if the reporter who brings it up fails to mention the following:

For how many games of those that LeBron missed did he have company on the IL by at least one or two of our other starters(!)? Didn’t we just have all four of James, Kuzma, Ball, Rondo out injured during a recent game?

That’s like 80 points, 40 rebounds and 50 assists and 5 blocks not taking the floor.

While he’s been injured, Rondo AND Kuzma AND Lonzo injures have been concurrent and so it will not be a true indication of the difference with or without just Bron.

But BSPN will run that narrative anyway. The Savior.

And should he miss out on the playoffs for the firs time ever, in part due to him sitting out like a diva like Kobe never would; we know he has already safe guarded himself with the narrative that the coach must be to blame and Luke might have to go if the great BronBron feels that way after the season...

[Dr Aki]

What point are you trying to make?

[Pythagoras]

We can all predict the false narrative coming around the corner:

I can hear it already on my imaginary ESPN feed some two or three games from now: “LBJ was out for 17 games. The baby Lakers went 6-11 without him. With LBJ, their winning percentage is so and without him they suck ass. He IS the king who single handed took the otherwise helpless Lakers into the playoffs”.

Nothing could be more skewed if the reporter who brings it up fails to mention the following:

For how many games of those that LeBron missed did he have company on the IL by at least one or two of our other starters(!)? Didn’t we just have all four of James, Kuzma, Ball, Rondo out injured during a recent game?

That’s like 80 points, 40 rebounds and 50 assists and 5 blocks not taking the floor.

While he’s been injured, Rondo AND Kuzma AND Lonzo injures have been concurrent and so it will not be a true indication of the difference with or without just Bron.

But BSPN will run that narrative anyway. The Savior.

And should he miss out on the playoffs for the firs time ever, in part due to him sitting out like a diva like Kobe never would; we know he has already safe guarded himself with the narrative that the coach must be to blame and Luke might have to go if the great BronBron feels that way after the season...

While I agree that the narrative will be garbage, I don’t want to completely undersell Lebron’s impact. Dude is incredible. Moreover, I have like zero fear this team will miss the playoffs as long as he is healthy.

[Optms]

He had us top 4 in the conference before the injury so....

We don't really don't need this argument about whether his impact is real or not. You can critique him for his diva-like antics, his LeGMing tendencies and getting coaches fired, but criticizing his impact isn't going to get you anywhere.

[lambchop]

A summary of OPs message: Lakers are already pretty decent. Add a high-impact player like LBJ, Curry, Harden, KD etc. and they can be the 4th/5th seed in the west

[stan francisco]

He had us top 4 in the conference before the injury so....

We don't really don't need this argument about whether his impact is real or not. You can critique him for his diva-like antics, his LeGMing tendencies and getting coaches fired, but criticizing his impact isn't going to get you anywhere.

What I’m saying is just that false narrative that you just brought up. He was injured AND while he was, so were also three other core players, starters. Just sayin’.

[dAdo dA dEvil]

He had us top 4 in the conference before the injury so....

We don't really don't need this argument about whether his impact is real or not. You can critique him for his diva-like antics, his LeGMing tendencies and getting coaches fired, but criticizing his impact isn't going to get you anywhere.

What I’m saying is just that false narrative that you just brought up. He was injured AND while he was, so were also three other core players, starters. Just sayin’.

I understand. What Stan is trying to say is without any injuries and you replace LeBron with any other star (Kawhi or Durant or anyone else on that status) we will still be a decent playoff team. What he is also trying to point out is that in the stretch that we are losing and falling out from the play off picture is that it's not only LeBron who is injured. It's about 3-4 of your starters are out that is why we are losing too.

[stan francisco]

He had us top 4 in the conference before the injury so....

We don't really don't need this argument about whether his impact is real or not. You can critique him for his diva-like antics, his LeGMing tendencies and getting coaches fired, but criticizing his impact isn't going to get you anywhere.

What I’m saying is just that false narrative that you just brought up. He was injured AND while he was, so were also three other core players, starters. Just sayin’.

I understand. What Stan is trying to say is without any injuries and you replace LeBron with any other star (Kawhi or Durant or anyone else on that status) we will still be a decent playoff team.

What he is also trying to point out is that in the stretch that we are losing and falling out from the play off picture is that it's not only LeBron who is injured. It's about 3-4 of your starters are out that is why we are losing too.

This is the point of this thread exactly. That only Bron will get credit for the increased wins when all of them come back.

[milesfides]

Well, it's $36m of basketball value that is missing. $36m could buy a lot. Shaving off $36m from the top of any roster would kill any team. Imagine if Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were both out for 17 games each. Or, Steph Curry - actually, the Warriors almost imploded when Steph was out, even having another MVP candidate in Kevin Durant and both Klay and Draymond. That narrative was not favorable to Kevin Durant, fair or not. Curry is the media darling. Primarily because he was the central player involved in their winning championships.

As was Lebron. But I'm not so sure it's a false narrative because most, including the media itself, is aware - self-aware. Kevin Durant and many others have said, the media does cater to and protect Lebron (for now). Of course even reporters acknowledge this because they recognize that Lebron has been the NBA's biggest power player for almost a decade. That currency has been, on the periphery, cushioning the Lakers (including Lebron) from a pretty bad week - actually six months of bad public relations.

But the Anthony Davis situation is really going to test that. Lebron has risked shooting himself in the foot, undermining the league's premier franchise, antagonizing the largest fanbase, and perhaps setting every small and midlevel market against him. The media league-wide would have little interest in protecting an aging, unscrupulous failure.

For example, if New Orleans holds firm in their F-U, like the Pacers did with George and the Spurs with Kawhi, the earliest Davis could be a Laker would be in the season where Lebron is 36 years old. If Lebron does end up convincing Anthony Davis to sign in 2020, it will be like Kobe getting Pau, except Lebron will be six years older than a prime 30-year-old Kobe.

We'll see if Lebron could keep the media on his side. Winning cures all. The media always sides with the winner. When you start losing, they'll take out the knives. Winning sells, but so does an ignominious fall.

[valrond1]

What point are you trying to make?

Really? That we weren't missing just Lebron, we were missing basically 2-3 starters. Rondo has been out since Xmas too, Lonzo got out before Rondo came back and Kuzma has been out a few games two. So Lebron + a starter PG (both Lonzo and Rondo qualify as starting PG) for the whole duration. And a bit more intensity with the Cavs and Knicks and a bit of luck vs the Rockets (we were winning the whole game) and it would be 9-8. Not really fair.

[stan francisco]

The intention is not to piss on LBJ here, but rather to debunk the false narrative coming up. This so that we here can keep LBJ’s true value under scrutiny and not rose-color it. ESPN will ignore the others having been out because they want the narrative of helpless kids without him, contenders with him.

[Hellcrooner]

What point are you trying to make?

i think his point is very clear

" im a kobe stan not a lakers fan"

[stan francisco]

What point are you trying to make?

i think his point is very clear

" im a kobe stan not a lakers fan"

You almost hit it right on!!!

I was not a Kobe fan, either.

I root for the team that’s supposed to represent a place and a culture where you live or were raised. The front of the jersey. I root for serious reporting that shows more than two shades of the gray scale. I root for level headed discussions on fan forums as I can’t find them on TV. So, thanks for your intelligent and well informed comment.

No matter star or not, I don’t particularly sympathize with people who kick and scream (passive aggressively or not) until they get their toy, no matter how hard working they may be. If you get paid $30M a year, I expect you to be a leader, shoulder responsibility. If you do, I’ll cheer for you when you win.

The sports press are un-nuanced fools and many fans will believe the distorted framing to come. Just sharing a thought, really.

[stan francisco]

I just read here by a respectable poster of our own that we’re not even a playoffs team without LeGroin.

AND Kuzma AND Rondo AND Lonzo, for some part of the LeGroin episode.

Not about the poster or his opinion. False narrative much... ? Yeah.