Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves as they eliminated the Lakers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs in just five games. After the series ended, Paul Pierce, the former NBA champion, said that he felt Anthony Edwards’ experience with LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry helped him figure out how to attack the two legends.
Pierce hosts Fox Sports’ talk show ‘Speak’ with Joy Taylor and Keyshawn Johnson. In the latest episode of their show, Pierce broke down how Edwards managed to beat the James-led Lakers. “This game was lost in the summer. Ant-Man went to the Olympics. He got up under KD [Kevin Durant], he got up under LeBron. He studied them; he not only studied their work habits, but he studied their personality. So now if I gotta see y’all, I know how to attack y’all”, said Pierce while putting himself in Edwards’ shoes.
“I see the mental aspect of the game. I see how LeBron work, I admire that. I see how KD work, I see how Steph work. Why you think he got comfortable enough to get in the game and just shove LeBron like that? I got comfortable with them. This game was won in the summer time. Learning their tendencies, learning their personalities—come playoffs, I know what I need to do”, he further added.
Paul Pierce Urges Lakers To Move On From LeBron James Era
Paul Pierce and LeBron James’ relationship has been strained since even before James was drafted into the NBA. It started as testing the rookie James, but it became a full-blown rivalry throughout Pierce’s career. So, almost everything Pierce says about James is usually taken with a grain of salt. However, this time his opinion may not be driven by emotions but rather by objective facts.
In the latest episode of his Fox Sports talk show ‘Speak’, Pierce pushed for the Lakers to move on from LeBron James’ era and give priority to Luka Doncic by building around him.
“If the Lakers want to get back to being a championship contender moving forward, you have to get out of the constraints of the LeBron era. They have to find a way to just—he’s had a grasp of the whole organization, bear hugging them for so long now. Done some wonderful things for the Lakers organization, 100%. They’re probably going to build a statue of him outside Crypto—They have to say ‘fine, we appreciate your services, I think we should move on’, tough conversation. It’s time for the Luka era now because I don’t know if you can play them together moving forward. You have to have a certain type of team around Luka to win. And him with LeBron, you won’t be able to create that”, said Pierce.
Following this statement from Pierce, the hosts discussed whether LeBron James is worth the $52 million player option he has in the upcoming summer. LeBron James has averaged 24.5 points, 8.0 assists, and 7.9 rebounds in 75 games played this season (including the Playoffs). At age 40, he is still playing at an All-NBA caliber. Any other player in the league, if he put up numbers like LeBron does right now, would get that level of a contract only.
However, the salary cap for each team this season is $154.6 million. Nearly 33% of your salary cap going to an aging player like LeBron puts your team in a very crippling position in the long term future. With Luka Doncic himself set for an extension (potentially a $226 million contract), the Lakers will have very limited financial flexibility to create a roster that Doncic would need around him. Therefore, LeBron’s player option is critical in determining the Lakers’ financial capacity.
In my opinion, the Lakers should urge LeBron James to turn down that player option and take a more financially reasonable contract, and if LeBron refuses to do so, then they should look for a trade destination for him before he loses all value in the trade market.
