The narrative that the Lakers are better without LeBron James is ridiculous.
Yes, the Lakers are 9-2 without him this season. And yes, they had their best win while he was sidelined Sunday for his second straight game because of left foot arthritis, a 110-97 victory over the Knicks.
But the issue isn’t James.
Let’s start with the fact that the 41-year-old James is averaging 21.4 points on 50.4 percent shooting, 5.6 rebounds and 7 assists a game. Does that sound like a liability to you? Even in his 23rd season, James is still one of the top players in the NBA, creating a mismatch for most defenders.
The issue is when James is on the court with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, there’s too much deferring and not enough defense.
But that’s a coaching problem. It’s a buy-in problem. It’s not a James problem.
It’s obvious that Doncic is the Lakers’ No. 1 option. Reaves needs to be No. 2. When James missed the first 14 games of the season because of sciatica, Reaves looked like an All-Star. He was a top-10 scorer in the league. But when the three players have shared the court, Reaves has been way less aggressive.
That needs to change.
Reaves needs to figure out a way to have an attack mentality while sharing the court with arguably the greatest player of all-time in James, as well as one of the top-five current players in Doncic.
James is an asset. He would be an asset on any team. No one is denying that. The issue is how everyone is being used.
Before the All-Star break, James, Doncic and Reaves had only played 11 games together. Incrementally, they’ve started finding their rhythm since then. They need to build off that.
Perhaps it means James playing off-ball, focusing on playmaking and taking advantage of mismatches. Perhaps it means Reaves seeing himself as a max contract player regardless of who he’s playing alongside. Perhaps it means Doncic playing more defense.
Imagine how good The Big Three could be if they each starred in their roles
The Lakers have a superpower. They just haven’t been able to tap into it. That should be the focus.
Cracking that code.
In addition to The Big Three needing to figure things out, the Lakers have a defensive issue.
In Sunday’s win over the Knicks, they showed a level of defensive commitment that has been severely lacking for much of this season. Marcus Smart had the highest plus-minus rating (plus-27) of anyone on the court despite only making one field goal. Deandre Ayton had three rebounds, one blocked shot and an alley-oop dunk in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the game.
Even Reaves (four rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot) and Doncic (eight rebounds and two steals) made an impact on the defensive end against New York.
That’s the type of defensive commitment everyone needs to have every night.
Those types of things should be the focus. It’s not fair for pundits to point the finger at James, pointing to the Lakers’ superior win percentage without him.
The thing about stats is they can be deceiving. They can be bent to argue any storyline. They can be weaponized.
What about the eye test? It shows that James is still very much a star. What about James’ stats? They show that he’s still a difference-maker. Let’s not scapegoat James or his fit with the team. That’s just lazy.
The same thing can be done around the league.
Are the Celtics better without six-time All-Star Jayson Tatum?
Sure, Jaylen Brown led the team to second-place in the East while Tatum was out because of an Achilles tear. But the Celtics aren’t better without him. That narrative is misguided. When the two stars become reintegrated, Boston will be even more powerful.
In a sense, the same argument applies to the Lakers’ Big Three. They just need to figure things out.
The finger has been pointed at James a lot this season.
His 3-point shooting is down. He’s slow.
Well, guess what? He has dominated the league amid versions of those same narratives for a long time. James is shooting 31.3 percent from beyond the arc, his lowest percentage from that distance since the 2015-2016 season, when he shot 30.9 percent. Guess what else happened that season? He led the Cavaliers to their first championship.
Back in 2018, James was the slowest player in the Eastern Conference Finals, according to NBA Tracking Data. He went on to lead the Cavaliers to the Finals that year, making his eighth straight appearance in the championship round. And two years later, he carried the Lakers to their first championship in 10 years.
No, James isn’t going to carry the Lakers to the Finals or the championship this season. The team isn’t good enough.
And no, James isn’t the same player he was back in 2016, when he declared himself the greatest player of all-time after leading the Cavaliers to storm back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Warriors in the Finals. But he’s still a weapon.
James is not the problem.
The Lakers’ holes are the issue. Their inability to jell is the issue. Their inconsistent effort is the issue.
The Lakers aren’t better without LeBron James.
So far, they’ve just failed at successfully maximizing him, Doncic and Reaves.
Those are two very different things.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
