At 37-years-old, the walls are closing in on LeBron James. Having been a dream acquisition for most of his basketball career, the 4x MVP is not nearly the same draw to teams as he used to be.
Faced with the prospect of getting both James and his son, Bronny, one NBA GM spoke with no hesitation about the status of “the King” at this stage of his career and denied he’d make a move to sign him if given the chance in a couple of years.
“I can’t speak for all the other teams, but to plan for a 39-year-old and taking on his son, who I hear is just decent, to make moves for all that, I don’t see it,” he said. “LeBron is still good, but he can’t carry you anymore. The only way I could see doing it is if you needed the box office draw.”
Even in his 19th season, James is proving to be a capable and effective leader. He’s averaging 28.9 points (his highest since joining the Lakers), 8 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game on 51.8% shooting.
Unfortunately, the Lakers haven’t been nearly as successful. They’re 10th in the West and boast a meager 27-32 record so far this season.
Fans and experts around the world are putting much of the blame on James (despite his stats) if nothing else than for his role in assembling the team’s abysmal roster.
“This is LeBron’s mess, he’s the one who wanted Russell Westbrook,” said Colin Cowherd. “LeBron is an outsider. The Lakers always take care of Lakers, they have a history. Magic [Johnson], James Worthy, ‘once a Laker, try to always be a Laker.’ LeBron is an outsider. It may be time to move off LeBron. He’s amazing but the roster is not good, the chemistry is bad, the bench is terrible, they don’t have good contracts, and who is going to take Westbrook and AD? Reports are saying that Jeanie Buss is saying [to LeBron] ‘this is MY team and MY franchise, and YOUR mess: FIX IT.’ Well, truthfully, the only way to fix it is to move LeBron. That would be the easiest, quickest way to do it.”
Whatever the case, or whoever is to blame, LeBron is here to stay. He said as much in a recent press conference, where he assured fans he had no plans to jump ship.
But it is up to the 4x Champion to fix the team now, and he won’t be able to rely on last-minute trade deals this time.
While some doubt that he has the ability to carry a team anymore, this is LeBron’s chance to show the world what he’s made of and shut the haters up for a while longer.
