Conventional wisdom says that bad marriages end in divorce around the seventh year. It’s called the “seven year itch.”
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers just completed their sixth year of shotgun marriage, losing in five games to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
The Lakers don’t have a system, and they married superstar players who only favor themselves.
Take LeBron James’ Hollywood experiment. The Lakers have missed the playoffs twice, been eliminated in the first round twice, and made it to the NBA Finals once. In 72 months, they won a singles title with LeBron, the 2020 “Corona Bubble” Championship.
By Lakers standards, the marriage to LeBron was a failure. In his 64-year history with the Los Angeles Lakers, this franchise has appeared in his 27 NBA Finals. On average, every 2.5 years, the Lakers appear in his NBA Finals. With the acquisition of the league’s all-time leading scorer, the team has advanced to the NBA’s biggest stage, which only happens once every six years.
This is a bad marriage. It shows all the signs.
What happens when the spouses realize that their marriage is not working? One of the parties concludes that the addition of a child will reignite the flame of their union.
Shortly after the Nuggets eliminated the Lakers on Monday night, NBA information guru Shams Charania said owner Jeanie Buss was open to adding LeBron’s ineligible son Bronny James to the Lakers’ roster. It was reported that.
Making Bronny the NBA’s first “Make-A-Wish” kid is the key to saving this bad marriage.
Only in Hollywood.
I say this because a lot of people are trying to pin all the blame for this failed experiment on LeBron James. Just as much blame goes to the Lakers’ outdated strategy.
The truth is, the Lakers were never a professionally run sports franchise. I say that knowing full well that the great Jerry West was the franchise’s general manager for almost 20 years, and the legendary Pat Riley and Phil Jackson coached the team through two dynasties.
But the Lakers remain the most dominant franchise in the NBA, thanks in large part to the acquisition of basketball’s biggest and most dominant force in Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and LeBron James. Because it is allowed.
The Lakers didn’t draft and develop those players. They acquired them through trades and free agency. It’s a good thing for the league to have one of its most indefatigable units in a city known for producing television icons. They contributed to the NBA’s revenue by acquiring Chamberlain from Philadelphia, Abdul-Jabbar from Milwaukee, O’Neal from Orlando, and James from Cleveland.
The NBA, like any other sports league, is just a TV show.
However, given the drastic changes in rule manipulation and playing styles, this equation no longer works. Wilt, Kareem and Shaq played in a physical era where low-post thugs created space for four other teammates to flourish.
The game is space-based, with three-point shooter rules, and analysis-driven strategy leads to championships and consistent wins. LeBron hangs out along the three-point line like everyone else. His sheer strength and physical superiority would be negated in the modern NBA.
Good coaching and homegrown talent are the keys to consistent wins. You could see it in the Golden State dynasty of Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry. Just look at what Michael Malone, Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets have built. We see it with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, and even the Boston Celtics.
You need a system and players willing to embrace it.
The Lakers don’t have a system, and they married superstar players who only favor themselves.
LeBron had eight different NBA coaches. Paul Silas, Brendan Malone, Mike Brown, Erik Spoelstra, Ty Lue, David Blatt, Frank Vogel, Darvin Hamm. Ham will likely be released by the Lakers this offseason.
By comparison, Michael Jordan had eight different basketball coaches from his high school days to the Olympics. Dean Smith in college. Bobby Knight at the 1984 Olympics. Bulls’ Kevin Loherty, Stan Albeck, Doug Collins, and Phil Jackson. Chuck Daly at the 1992 Olympics. Doug Collins of the Wizards.
LeBron James is the Liz Taylor of basketball divorcees. He is in another toxic relationship. Adding Baby Bronny won’t fix what’s broken within the Lakers organization.
