NBA Free Agency Detox — LeBron James heads for the Hollywood Hills
I was walking around Yankee Stadium the other day, feverishly featuring what has been dubbed the ‘intern walk’ towards the copy room to make the first of my hundreds of copies for the day. I am fortunate to be working for the Yankees at a time when they field their most exciting roster in nearly a decade. The city is buzzing with the possibility of a potential extended run into October, the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is back in full force, and the Mets have dug themselves a deep hole — three ingredients for a joyous season in Yankee land.
As I made my approach to the copy room, three staffers wearing suits in the distance were converging in my direction — I could tell they were in a deep conversation. With our paths about to cross, I attempted to guess what their passionate back and forth was about. Surely it had to be about which starting pitcher the Yankees should acquire to put them over the top, right? This is Yankee Stadium after all.
Sike.
Could you imagine if the Lakers pull that off? Nobody is beating LeBron, Kawhi, and Paul George. Nobody.
Whether it is because of social media/NBA 2k, the shine of their stars, or the overflowing (and somehow still escalating) hatred for its champion, the NBA is the most culturally relevant league right now. Each transactional pipe dream, either real or imaginary, spawns a never-ending flow of debate that ultimately leads to no answer. But that’s the beauty of an NBA debate — you can believe what you believe, fight like hell for it, and never fully be proven wrong.
There is a faction of people who believe that Kobe Bryant is the G.O.A.T., and even though that faction is misinformed and far from correct, the most robust of fact-based arguments won’t take them down. They have ringz. Five of em.
Ringz … Let’s use that as a segway to make sense of LeBron James going to Los Angeles.
Unlike years past, there was no ideal basketball situation on the table that James could insert himself to and immediately make themselves the favorites for the title. The argument for the Houston Rockets could have been made, but the salary cap gymnastics required to make that dream a reality would have sacrificed some of the spare parts that made the destination appealing in the first place. (Related: Houston was probably not atop the list of destinations for James’ family. Not that my opinion matters, but I went to Houston in 2016 and was thoroughly unimpressed.)
The Philadelphia 76ers were an option in theory because they a) they are in the Eastern Conference b) have a ton of talent and c) could sign James into cap-space without compromising assets. Selfishly, I am glad this scenario didn’t get off the ground because James, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons is a funky fit from a basketball perspective. Simmons and James are especially redundant, both in terms of their game on the court and self-dubbed nicknames (King James & Fresh Prince).
James really only had two options: stay in Cleveland, go through another year of taxing his body to insurmountable heights just to make a 9th (!!) consecutive NBA Finals only to get raced off the court by Golden State or any other Western Conference foe … or start the next chapter of your life in Los Angeles.
It is difficult to disagree with the path he ended up taking.
To me, this decision was 60% lifestyle/family, 30% business, and 10% basketball-focused. LeBron could very well live the rest of his life in Los Angeles — he just bought a second home in Brentwood last year — and who could blame him? I spent ten hours in Santa Monica a few months ago and questioned why I would ever want to go anywhere else.
All of that said, the Lakers do have some interesting pieces in the fold that could make them a difficult out come May or a candidate to nab another star or two to team up with James. I am bullish on Brandon Ingram’s talent — he played point guard for a long-stretch last season and filled that role more than admirably. He turns 21 in September, has Gumby arms, a capable shooting stroke, and scoring instincts. If I were the Lakers, I would hold off on giving him up to secure Kawhi Leonard now for the possibility of signing Leonard outright next summer to pair with Ingram and James.
Lonzo Ball on the other hand … he might be a Spur by summer’s end.
All in all, LeBron signing with the Lakers is unsurprising, but also inherently strange. Seeing him decked out in a Lakers jersey while watching the Scott Van Pelt SportsCenter on Sunday night made me do a double take.
Ringz culture will question why he would make this decision without securing a sidekick to team with him to go at Golden State, but playing for a championship might be secondary at this stage of LeBron’s career. What we saw from him last season, his God damn 15th in league, will very likely never happen again. His legacy as the G.O.A.T. has already been defined for many in my generation, and even if that sentiment isn’t universal, James seems to be perfectly content with the throne he has cast himself.
In steep contrast to decisions of yesteryear, James made his announcement a with a single press release masked as a tweet a mere 22 hours into free agency. Reports state that he then boarded a private plane to Europe, leaving all of the irrelevant noise of the Twitterverse behind him.
Just as he should.
