After the Lakers were swept out of the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets, star LeBron James immediately turned up the fire and spoke about a possible retirement. While we haven’t heard anything from James since the playoff ended for LA, it’s widely expected that he will indeed return next season and play for the Lakers.
LA is about to enter a crucial offseason as they need to make some decisions on how to build this roster into a championship contender. But it’s being said that unlike in the past, James won’t be putting any say into the minds of the front office on what to do in regards to the roster.
Mark Medina of Sportsnaut had this to report:
“Unlike during part of his time with the Lakers, however, James does not plan to advocate for any specific free-agent signings or trades, according to a person familiar with his thinking.”
If this is true, it could signal two things. One, James trusts the Lakers to put together a championship caliber team so he understands that he doesn’t need to micromanage anything. Or secondly, he knows that his time in the league is coming to an end so he is starting to back away so it’s not as much of a shock for himself when it does happen.
Either way, I think this is the best course of action for the Lakers. It allows Rob Pelinka and company to do their jobs and take control of the roster construction. They know that the pressure is on to build a winner and they don’t need James to remind them of that.
When James first signed with the Lakers back in 2018, it then became an expectation that the team would do their best to field a team capable of winning a title around him. LA has done that since he joined and 2023 should be no different.