Getty LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during the first half of a game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
LeBron James will never be looked at in the same vain as Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal says retired NBA All Star Gilbert Arenas.
“I get the question, but it is unfair to LeBron because he came to the Lakers at the age of 34,” Gilbert Arenas told Dallas, Texas-based NBA writer Landon Buford.
“He is not a young guy that is going to put in ten years into the organization to build the name that those guys had in the prime of their careers. He is coming in at the back end of his career without young legs. So, his impact must be much faster than what those guys were.”
The first pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft, James stayed in Cleveland in 2010. He joined the Miami Heat and won two rings with his friends Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
James returned to Cleveland in 2014 and won The Land a ring in 2016 alongside Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, and head coach, Ty Lue.
James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers last offseason where he’ll play point guard this coming season.
James, a 16-year NBA veteran ranks 10th on the NBA’s all-time assists list (8,662).
According to NBA.com, LBJ is within striking distance of passing a pair of Hall of Famers in 2019-20: Gary Payton (whom he trails by 305 assists) and Isiah Thomas (400).
“Nobody is going to give him credit anyway,” Gilbert Arenas told Landon Buford.
“Last season, he averaged 27 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.He was called a bust because he didn’t make the playoffs, and they called him washed like he averaged five points. The man averaged 27, 8, and 8, and they were number 2 in the west when the whole team was there at the beginning of the season. They started losing ground after everyone started getting hurt.”
James’ first season in Los Angeles wasn’t as prosperous as many imagined.
Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James injury is more complex than what has been initially reported, I’m told.
Per Lakers source: “LeBron could ‘rush back’ and return at the end of January. But he could very well be out until the end of February, or even longer.”
He injured his groin on Christmas Day and returned to the Los Angeles Lakers’ lineup at the end of January after a very strenuous rehab process.
The Lakers missed also missed the NBA Playoffs and went into the offseason on a mission to get better.
“I like being uncomfortable in the offseason,” LeBron James told The Athletic’s Joe Vardon.
“I like being counted out. It motivates me.
“I’ve had basically the same offseason training regimen the last eight years,” LeBron added. “I knew how long I wanted to rest for the season on a short timeline. I’m figuring out now how to get as much as I can out of two months of extra time for training. It requires a totally different strategy. We’re looking at it in an entirely new way.”
“He didn’t really get to do his thing on the court,” ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne told the Scoop B Radio Podcast in the spring.
“With LeBron, he’s signed for four years and I think he’s as happy with how this went as anyone, I don’t think LeBron blames anyone for this, and so I thought about it, but that’s more of what it feels like, this first year didn’t go so well.”
“There is nothing he really can do in that Lakers uniform that will change anyones mind,” Gilbert Arenas told Landon Buford.
“If he wins a championship, they will say he won a championship, but it will be something else that they criticize him about that as well. His legacy is beyond a Lakers uniform. The pressure of saying: ‘alright if he wins three championships in a Lakers uniform, we can possibly put him in this category.’ He is never going to compete as a Laker with the rest of those guys. They had more years in a Laker uniform as Laker players. He is just a super talent that is trying to put his stamp on the team and finish his career out. He possibly wins one or two championships as a Laker.”
The 6-foot-8 forward came into the league as a point guard will make a return to PG duties with a revamped Lakers roster.
For those tardy to the party: Six players have returned from last season. That list includes James, Kyle Kuzma, JaVale McGee, Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso.
Lakers newcomers include Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Jared Dudley, Quinn Cook, Troy Daniels and rookie Talen Horton-Tucker.
The Lakers also have a new head coach in Frank Vogel and assistant coach in Jason Kidd.
The table is set. Now James and company have to produce.
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LeBron James’ Lakers Legacy Critiqued by NBA All Star