LeBron James, who will make his season debut Tuesday night vs. the Jazz, has spent the better part of two decades playing Atlas for franchises that would collapse without him to keep them aloft. He’s also spent a good chunk of that time making it clear he was ready for that to change. Heck, that was what motivated him to ditch the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in the first place. As far back as 2017, he talked about handing the Cavaliers over to Kyrie Irving. That was eight All-NBA selections ago. The Lakers made a point of supporting him with ball-handling from the moment he arrived in Los Angeles and, when that wasn’t enough, he pushed for the disastrous Russell Westbrook trade. The moves kept failing. James kept playing Superman.
In fairness, it’s all he’s ever really done in the NBA, save perhaps the brief moments of overlap with a healthy, peak Dwyane Wade in Miami and the best of Irving in Cleveland. James has talked a big game about sharing the workload, but when the games actually start, 20 years of habits kick in and he tends to control everything. And hey, he’s LeBron James. Who’s gonna stop him? Even after the Lakers acquired Luka Dončić last February, there was a push and pull between the two. Dončić led the team in shots and usage, but at lower clips than he’d posted since his rookie season. James deferred for most of the game, but cranked his usage and shot attempts back up above Luka’s by a meaningful margin in fourth quarters in both the regular season and their first-round loss to Minnesota. Dončić joined James’ team on the fly in the middle of a season. The torch never fully passed.
If there is a silver lining to James’ absence thus far this season, it’s that it has allowed the Lakers to find themselves without that question hanging over their heads. Dončić is settled and playing like an MVP, but just about everyone else is thriving as well. Austin Reaves is trending towards his first All-Star appearance. Rui Hachimura is having a career year and Deandre Ayton is having the bounce-back season the Lakers…
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