Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul has gotten a detailed behind-the-scenes look at the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat thanks to his client, LeBron James. Paul has seen how the two franchises operate, and on the first-ever episode of Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul, he spoke about the area where the Lakers are lacking compared to the Heat.
“Pat Riley had a championship mindset,” Paul said. “So the foundation, right? It don’t matter how upset you may be. It don’t matter. We’re doing this thing this way… I would say if there was room to grow for the Lakers, it would be in that department. Yes, we are the Lakers, and let’s establish this culture. We’ve got 17 championships. Let’s establish this culture of being a championship organization and having these pillars.”
James hadn’t won a championship when he decided he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Heat in 2010. The move paid dividends, as he went to the NBA Finals four straight years from 2011 to 2014 and won titles in 2012 and 2013.
It’s often been said that James learned how to win during his tenure with the Heat. Team president Pat Riley knew all about it, having won five NBA championships as a head coach.
The Heat had won a championship as recently as 2006, and James greatly benefited from being in the building from 2010 to 2014. Now, it should also be made clear that he was also the biggest reason why those teams were so successful.
James was the best player, but didn’t quite know what it took to get over that finish line. He then left the Heat for the Cavaliers in 2014, and they went through a difficult period following his departure. The Heat wouldn’t be down for too long, though, as they returned to the NBA Finals in 2020. This time around, however, James was standing in their way as a member of the Lakers.
James had spent four seasons with the Cavaliers (winning a title in 2016) after leaving the Heat, and then joined the Lakers in 2018. He had gone to one of the most successful teams in NBA history, but their glory days seemed like a distant memory at that point.
The Lakers hadn’t even made the playoffs in the five seasons before James arrived. They had been a complete mess, and he managed to turn their fortunes around.
James won his fourth NBA championship when the Lakers beat the Heat in six games in the 2020 NBA Finals. If you’d asked someone back then which of these two teams would have more success in the coming years, they’d have gone with the Lakers, but that’s not how things panned out.
The Heat made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 and then the NBA Finals again in 2023. The Lakers, meanwhile, only made the Western Conference Finals in 2023. That remains the only year where they managed to win a playoff series after that triumph in 2020.
Now, the Heat weren’t looked at as a team that was anywhere near as talented as the Lakers during this stretch. Did they still have more success due to the culture there? Some would certainly argue for that being the case.
The counterpoint, though, would be that for all their culture and foundation, the Heat have failed to win a championship since James left. Even their approach can only take them so far with a talent deficit.
Rich Paul Doesn’t Believe The Lakers Are Contenders This Season
The Lakers are currently second in the Western Conference with a 17-6 record, and there is a lot of optimism surrounding the team at the moment. Paul doesn’t think they are contenders, though.
“I personally don’t think the Lakers are good enough to be contenders right now,” Paul stated.
Paul doesn’t see this team getting to the Western Conference Finals and isn’t putting much stock in their record at the moment.
“We seen last year they ran into athleticism and length, they struggled,” Paul said. “So when you look at it now. Athleticism, length, shooting, speed, right? Because now can the Lakers play fast? I don’t think so. And style of play, that style of play is going to be very easy to guard when you get to the playoffs.”
The Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games in the first round last season. Paul believes their lack of athleticism will hurt them this time around as well. The Lakers will need to make a move to address that, and it will be interesting to see if they do.
