Lebron on Lakers from 1980-'99

[homecourtloss]

Worthy scored like he did because Magic passed so much and so well, he doesn't with Lebron. Lebron and Kareem wouldn't be such a good fit unless Lebron is #2 until 1983 at least. Pistons still win in 89, and Bulls still win 96-98. Van Exel has no fit without the ball and the fit is not good. Kobe, Lebron and Shaq wouldn't fit, Kobe would leave early. They only contend in Lebron's defensive prime, which would end by around 92/93. Nice pairing with Shaq but the Lakers got smashed by the Jazz in 97 and 98, Spurs in 99.

Do you think he can get lucky and win one or two?

[parapooper]

I think a lot, but:

1. I don't think people understand how hard it is to win 8+ rings. I don't say it would be impossible for James, but I definitely wouldn't bet on it.
2. I am not sure James would have stayed in the Lakers for 20 years in the first place.

LeBron stayed longer on a small market, bad weather, bad coaching, bad management, bad supporting cast team than everyone else on the top10 GOAT list _combined_ - why would he not have stayed with the largest market, great weather, top coaching, top management, stacked cast team?

[A_Biased_Fan]

Worthy scored like he did because Magic passed so much and so well, he doesn't with Lebron. Lebron and Kareem wouldn't be such a good fit unless Lebron is #2 until 1983 at least. Pistons still win in 89, and Bulls still win 96-98. Van Exel has no fit without the ball and the fit is not good. Kobe, Lebron and Shaq wouldn't fit, Kobe would leave early. They only contend in Lebron's defensive prime, which would end by around 92/93. Nice pairing with Shaq but the Lakers got smashed by the Jazz in 97 and 98, Spurs in 99.

Do you think he can get lucky and win one or two?

That' dude probably doesn't even have Lebron making a Western Conference Final with the way he wrote that

[migya]

Worthy scored like he did because Magic passed so much and so well, he doesn't with Lebron. Lebron and Kareem wouldn't be such a good fit unless Lebron is #2 until 1983 at least. Pistons still win in 89, and Bulls still win 96-98. Van Exel has no fit without the ball and the fit is not good. Kobe, Lebron and Shaq wouldn't fit, Kobe would leave early. They only contend in Lebron's defensive prime, which would end by around 92/93. Nice pairing with Shaq but the Lakers got smashed by the Jazz in 97 and 98, Spurs in 99.

Do you think he can get lucky and win one or two?

If he's lucky

[picko]

I think a lot, but:

1. I don't think people understand how hard it is to win 8+ rings. I don't say it would be impossible for James, but I definitely wouldn't bet on it.
2. I am not sure James would have stayed in the Lakers for 20 years in the first place.

Buss would give him the Magic treatment and give him a 25 year contract. He wouldn't be going anywhere.

[AdagioPace]

I think a lot, but:

1. I don't think people understand how hard it is to win 8+ rings. I don't say it would be impossible for James, but I definitely wouldn't bet on it.
2. I am not sure James would have stayed in the Lakers for 20 years in the first place.

LeBron stayed longer on a small market, bad weather, bad coaching, bad management, bad supporting cast team than everyone else on the top10 GOAT list _combined_ - why would he not have stayed with the largest market, great weather, top coaching, top management, stacked cast team?

sounds logical but predicting how the relationships with Shaq/Kobe and various coaches would have panned out is not easy. We're talking about 20 years of human variables (including players, families, friendships with players, etc..). Even Lebron is not a single monolith. A long NBA career spans a quarter of an average life, including early adulthood. 18 y.o Lebron is different from 35 y.o Lebron.

EDIT: sorry I completely overlooked that it was not '90-2009 but '80-'99 . Nevermind the Kobe part.... (or at least it's not that important)

In any case I think the 80s would be way too easy for the Lakers, almost boring (5-6 titles at minimum). the 90s would be interesting with a competitive western conference. I'd love to see Shaq+Lebron (more exciting than 2010 Cavs).

[Owly]

I think a lot, but:

1. I don't think people understand how hard it is to win 8+ rings. I don't say it would be impossible for James, but I definitely wouldn't bet on it.
2. I am not sure James would have stayed in the Lakers for 20 years in the first place.

LeBron stayed longer on a small market, bad weather, bad coaching, bad management, bad supporting cast team than everyone else on the top10 GOAT list _combined_ - why would he not have stayed with the largest market, great weather, top coaching, top management, stacked cast team?

sounds logical but predicting how the relationships with Shaq/Kobe and various coaches would have panned out is not easy. We're talking about 20 years of human variables (including players, families, friendships with players, etc..). Even Lebron is not a single monolith. A long NBA career spans a quarter of an average life, including early adulthood. 18 y.o Lebron is different from 35 y.o Lebron.

Kobe isn't that relevant in the timeline offered. Even with Shaq, it's 3 seasons, Shaq's probably less vocal than he was later and both old LeBron and 60 games a year Shaq would benefit from someone to share the load.

Kareem, Riley(/coaches) and Buss are probably the bigger interpersonal relationships.
IRL Magic and Kareem weren't best buddies.
Magic arguably got one coach fired and then Riley burnt himself and soured the team on him.
Buss and Johnson were close for an owner and player. Apparently they sometimes partied together. This might mean LeBron is less likely to stay but make other internal relations easier.

The LeBron dynamics could be worse. They could be better. But the Lakers did pretty well with dynamics that weren't perfect.

So I'll agree that it's complex and there aren't guarantees, but if the question whether LeBron stays comes from him changing in very different circumstances, it is worth noting context - such as that if a franchise was halfway competent (and maybe at the margins if there wasn't desire to be elsewhere - a la Kareem ... though he had the ABA as leverage ... LeBron would have to wait a while for true free agency, plus I think he's more comfortable in LA than Kareem in Milwaukee) top tier superstars moving was just less common.

[AdagioPace]

LeBron stayed longer on a small market, bad weather, bad coaching, bad management, bad supporting cast team than everyone else on the top10 GOAT list _combined_ - why would he not have stayed with the largest market, great weather, top coaching, top management, stacked cast team?

sounds logical but predicting how the relationships with Shaq/Kobe and various coaches would have panned out is not easy. We're talking about 20 years of human variables (including players, families, friendships with players, etc..). Even Lebron is not a single monolith. A long NBA career spans a quarter of an average life, including early adulthood. 18 y.o Lebron is different from 35 y.o Lebron.

Kobe isn't that relevant in the timeline offered. Even with Shaq, it's 3 seasons, Shaq's probably less vocal than he was later and both old LeBron and 60 games a year Shaq would benefit from someone to share the load.

Kareem, Riley(/coaches) and Buss are probably the bigger interpersonal relationships.
IRL Magic and Kareem weren't best buddies.
Magic arguably got one coach fired and then Riley burnt himself and soured the team on him.
Buss and Johnson were close for an owner and player. Apparently they sometimes partied together. This might mean LeBron is less likely to stay but make other internal relations easier.

The LeBron dynamics could be worse. They could be better. But the Lakers did pretty well with dynamics that weren't perfect.

So I'll agree that it's complex and there aren't guarantees, but if the question whether LeBron stays comes from him changing in very different circumstances, it is worth noting context - such as that if a franchise was halfway competent (and maybe at the margins if there wasn't desire to be elsewhere - a la Kareem ... though he had the ABA as leverage ... LeBron would have to wait a while for true free agency, plus I think he's more comfortable in LA than Kareem in Milwaukee) top tier superstars moving was just less common.

thank you. I like that you actually went in depth with this, while listing possible fracture points, pro and cons for Lebron staying. A very interesting painting of the 80s Lakers in few words.
as far as Kobe, yeah I realized late that I was thinking about a different timeline.