It seems that most of the time when the Los Angeles Lakers possess a transcendent superstar, anything but winning the NBA championship is considered a failure.
That was doubly true this season, as they failed to even reach the play-in tournament.
Many not only consider the 2021-22 season a failure for the Lakers, but also the most disappointing season in franchise history.
But that’s not how LeBron James sees it.
Via Lakers Nation:
“It’s not failure at all,” James said during his exit interview. “We came to work every single day and put our hard hats on. We tried to get better every day. The results just didn’t happen for us, so it’s not a failure. … We came together as a team. We wanted to be as great as we can be. We just didn’t accomplish a lot of the things that we would’ve hoped, but obviously, if you follow me for any part of my career if we don’t succeed I take a lot of the responsibility. That’s just who I am.
“So I wish I could’ve been a lot better leading this franchise this year. I wish I could’ve been in uniform a lot more than I was. I think I played 56 games I believe it was. That wasn’t enjoyed at all. Sitting on the sideline knowing that you can make a difference and not being able to do it. Hopefully, I can be a lot better with that next year.”
At this point of his career, just about the only thing left for him to accomplish is to win more rings, making this an interesting viewpoint for him.
Some have criticized him for supposedly checking out mentally at some point this season and focusing only on padding his own stats.
He was very close to winning the scoring title, and he could’ve done so, but he decided to miss the last five games of the season, making him ineligible for the scoring title.
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