By James Johnson
March 6, 2022
In the last couple of weeks of the 2021-2022 season the Los Angeles Lakers have been in a losing slump. At this point basketball fans began to speculate should Lebron return to Cleveland. Lebron James is in his 19th season and is still playing at a high level but does not have the best role players around him to win another championship. The Lakers have been affected by injuries and lack of defense since acquiring veterans such as Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Deandre Jordan. Early in the season former all-stars and former teammates of LBJ Rajon Rondo & Dwight Howard returned to Los Angeles to try to bring another championship to the Lakers organization. Howard and Rondo who were apart of the 2020 NBA Championship team brought veteran experience to the Lakers. Besides their two superstars Anthony Davis & Lebron James, the team was surrounded by great role players which allowed them to defeat the Miami Heat.
The season before the Lakers would compete in the new NBA play-in tournament to compete for the 8th seed in the playoff bracket. The Lakers would win the play-in tournament but would lose in a 4-2 series by the number 1 seeded Phoenix Suns. Power forward Anthony Davis has not been available for the Lakers as much as they would like him to be due to injuries. Davis who the Lakers traded for in the 2019 offseason helped bring the Los Angles Lakers in the playoff bubble during the Covid-19 pandemic. He was recruited by King James based upon his offensive talent and defensive ability which was displayed during his playing days in New Orleans. Once acquired by the Lakers Davis and James immediately became a dynamic duo. The two were teammates during the 2012 FIBA tournament and have been friends since Davis’s rookie season. AD came up big for the Lakers in the bubble playoffs and even hit a buzzer beater in the semi-finals.
From the start of the 2021-2022 NBA season the Lakers were picked as favorites to win the 2022 NBA title after picking up former All-Star type players. Lebron James had a hand in recruiting his former USA basketball teammates Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony. James and Anthony have been close friends since playing each other during their high school careers. Anthony went on to play one season with Syracuse University winning a NCAA championship while James would enter the 2003 NBA draft coming out of high school at the age of 18. The two would share the draft with other future hall of famers such as Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. LBJ won his first NBA title while playing alongside Wade & Bosh in the 2012 NBA Finals. That Miami Heat team would go to four straight finals but won 2 rings out of 4. People have criticized the players of today for teaming up to win championships instead of lifting the team they started their career with.
After their four-year run Lebron James would return to Cleveland going to four more straight finals winning 1 of 4 championships before signing with the Lakers. Anthony on the other hand has had great success in the NBA putting together a hall of fame resume. During his years in Denver and New York Carmelo Anthony would make countless all-star appearances, winning a scoring title and making All-NBA teams. Although Anthony has played in one conference series, he has yet to play in an NBA Finals. Russell Westbrook is another player that has had much success in the NBA has played in only one NBA finals while playing for a young Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC would come up short to James and the Miami Heat team in 2013 NBA finals. Sixth man James Harden would be traded to the Houston Rockets becoming one of the best players in the league. After coming up short in the playoffs time and time again former league MVP Kevin Durant decided to leave OKC as well to go onto to win 2 straight championships with Golden State Warriors.
After Durant’s departure Westbrook became the captain of the OKC ship winning the 2017 NBA league MVP and breaking the record for the most triple doubles in a season. For the next couple of seasons Westbrook would average a triple double making him the only player in NBA history to have consecutive triple doubles in three straight seasons. With all the success Westbrook has had as an individual success his style of play did not translate to team success preventing them to getting to a conference championship series. James believed with their experience that they could help bring the Los Angeles Lakers another championship before calling it quits. The Lakers have had ups and down all season long leaving people to question if they might miss the 2022 playoffs. There were rumors of the organization trading Westbrook for more solid role players, but the team never came forward publicly admitting this. Recently they waived center Deandre Jordan hoping to get more productivity from big man Dwight Howard.
Once again, I and others ask should Lebron return to Cleveland where there is young up and comers or should he sign somewhere else after his stint with the Lakers is over?
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