LeBron James lifted the Olympics MVP trophy as Team USA was given their Gold medals at Paris 2024, one of the best international basketball tournaments in modern history. Playing high-level competitive basketball fuels great players like LeBron, with the 39-year-old forward opening up on media day about how playing meaningful basketball brought back his ‘fire and desire’ for basketball.
“I don’t ever lose touch with the game of basketball, but it felt damn good to play meaningful basketball. Like literally play for the highest level, we had two Game 7’s back to back, one vs. Serbia and then that last one vs. France where it was like this is why those text messages went out, this is why those calls happened.”
“That fire and desire was brought back to me, this is what it was all about. This is why we all came together and called ourselves the Avengers. To have that feeling again where you’re playing like meaningful, real, every possession means something. If you make a mistake, it burns you. That was good to relive that going against those two great teams.”
James averaged 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists at the Olympics, leading Team USA for most of the tournament until Stephen Curry carried the team to wins with incredible shooting in the semi-finals and Finals.
Even though LeBron wasn’t a high-volume scorer, it was clear to see that he was running the show on offense and almost all players, including Curry, were looking at him for motivation and guidance during the Olympics.
LeBron played meaningful basketball in the 2022-23 season as he led the Los Angeles Lakers to overcome a 2-10 start to the season and make the Western Conference Finals. Nonetheless, they never stood a chance at winning a title in 2023 due to the roster, so that was a gross overachievement.
Hopefully, James has a reason to compete and contend this season so he can justify to himself why he’s playing more seasons after having accomplished everything he can in basketball.
The Lakers Training Camp Vibes Are Stronger Than Ever Before
There’s a sense of optimism within the Lakers camp for this season despite their complete lack of moves this offseason. Veteran Lakers analyst and writer Jovan Buha shared that he has never seen the team with such positive energy at a training camp before, including camp before the 2020-21 season, where the Lakers entered as defending champions.
“The vibes around the Lakers are at an all-time high. This is my fifth season covering the Lakers and my fifth training camp, and I cannot remember the Lakers having this kind of positive, joyous, and upbeat energy.”
A lot of this energy could be attributed to the boost of morale the players have gotten after seeing LeBron team up with his son Bronny James. Even if many people are resentful about the path Bronny has taken to the NBA, everyone on the Lakers have created a supportive atmosphere for the rookie.
New head coach JJ Redick seems better equipped to manage the personalities on this team while injecting some coaching innovations instead of the mundane style of basketball they got used to playing under Darvin Ham.
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