LeBron James is one of the greatest players to have ever played the sport of basketball. Over the course of his career, LeBron James has won 4 championships with 3 different teams. There’s no doubt that he’s viewed as a franchise legend by fans of multiple teams.
While LeBron James is a proven winner, there’s no doubt that having him on the roster often forces teams to make win-now moves that sacrifice their future. Brian Windhorst has recently explained how LeBron James “wears his team out” everywhere he goes. Dan Lyons of Sports Illustrated relayed Windhorst’s words.
“LeBron’s career operates in four-year increments. He wears his team out. I call it organizational fatigue,” Windhorst said. “It happened the first time in Cleveland. They ran out of draft picks, they had a bunch of guys in their mid-30s. Shaq close to the finish line, Antawn Jamison.
“He goes to Miami, four years, great run, they run out of draft picks. In his last game, three guys retired after the game. He goes to Cleveland, four years, great run. They run out of draft picks. They got old guys. Here we are in L.A., fourth year. The oldest team we’ve seen in NBA history, they’re out of draft picks, they’re exhausted.”
There is no doubt that when one has a superstar like LeBron James on the roster, some win-now moves have to be made. However, sometimes, win-now moves don’t end up working out for the team long-term, and sometimes even short-term. The move for Russell Westbrook has clearly not had the desired effect for example, and some have even stated that the trade could go down as the worst trade in Lakers’ history. The point about his teams being old at the end of the “four-year increment” is accurate as well, and we can see that the Lakers have a lot of older veterans on the squad currently.
This current Lakers roster is clearly not a championship-level team, and there is no doubt that they need to find a way to make changes in the offseason to build around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Hopefully, they are able to find an avenue to put some quality role players around their star duo.
