LeBron James led the Los Angeles Lakers to a championship and has now earned the adoration of Lakers fans. But it wasn’t always easy for everyone. Eventually, LeBron created a championship team in his image by also realizing that he could let go of some things he would have otherwise felt the need to control. It was through learning from his past experiences that he was able to lead the most dominant championship team he has ever been a part of. But before, we talk about this season, I want to take it back to just before LeBron joined the Lakers.
I’m far from a regular at All-Star Weekend, but the 2018 All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, only a few months before LeBron would eventually join the Lakers, felt too important to pass up. And I had to get around, so I would ride in ride-shares, with the discussion often turning to All-Star weekend, before I would eventually bring up LeBron and the Lakers. I was already editing this site and the prospect of LeBron in Los Angeles, particularly after Kyrie Irving left Cleveland, was always in my LeBron Thought Process. I had also gone to an UNINTERRUPTED event during the weekend and frankly, all of the signs that he was going to be a Laker were there to see for all who were there. So I would often ask Lakers fans when I met them what they thought about adding LeBron. Most were stoked, but many were skeptical. The most skeptical of them all drove me in a ride-share, which stuck with me much more than any of the Cool Kid Conversations you can have at places like All-Star Weekend.
The passionate Laker fan behind the wheel, taking me back to my friend’s place in Playa Del Rey, insisted that above all else, he did not want LeBron James to be on one-year contracts like he was with the Cavaliers. He needed LeBron to commit to the Lakers and stop putting his thirst for personal power above the team. Upon arrival, he signed a 4-year deal, taking a first step in letting go of some of his power but laying the foundation for a more stable work environment.
But that goodwill with Lakers faithful was quickly erased as it became clear the young Lakers were soon to be the pieces to bring in LeBron’s preferred running mate, Anthony Davis. That move, was, in fact, for the goodwill of the franchise, but it hurt. In between, LeBron had to acquiesce some power to the Lakers brand, Jeanie Buss, Linda Rambis, and eventually, Rob Pelinka and Frank Vogel.
Rather than extract power in an adversarial fashion, LeBron and Rich Paul built bridges. LeBron organized a team mini-camp in Las Vegas before training camp, helping create the bonds that would be fortified when they were locked inside various Ritz-Carlton’s in China, watching decals featuring them get torn down while they were watching. Back in November, Danny Green said the team’s trip to China helped create a unity that he had not experienced before in his career.
Klutch, too, built bridges with the Lakers family. During the stoppage, Klutch hired agent Omar Wilkes to run their Basketball Division as Rich Paul moved to be the CEO of the company. It is likely no coincidence that Wilkes is the son of 80s Lakers Legend Jamaal Wilkes. Nobody wins when the family feuds, which is something both Klutch and the Lakers had to learn over the years. It’s something the Clippers are still learning.
LeBron’s leadership, after being a somewhat distant mentor to the younger Lakers last season, helped create the most dominant champion he has ever been on. When you look at the defense, playoff record, and the duo of LeBron and Anthony Davis, LeBron has never been a part of a team that was this good. And perhaps as a reflection of his own growth, LeBron created the most dominant team he’s ever been on.
In Miami, the Big 3 aura was inescapable and while they were together, it was always filled with immense pressure and an exploding social media age. In Cleveland, the Cavaliers era was defined by cliques. And while there were definitely groups who hung together or did different things, LeBron helped cultivate a culture in which everyone was together more often than not. It resulted in his best team.
With the 2019-20 Lakers, LeBron would organize team meals, a page he took from San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich. LeBron’s group chat messages to the squad have become detail fodder for every writer in the bubble and the Madden tournament was not only a great piece of content but a competition that the Lakers could all participate in to keep them occupied while they were quarantined with each other for the first 2 months of their stay.
In terms of accomplishments, the 2016 Championship over the Golden State Warriors after going down 3-1 will never be topped. But in terms of which team was the most dominant? The 2020 Lakers, in large part to the excellence of LeBron’s moves, both ones he influenced and ones he let happen naturally by simply letting things play out, were his best team yet.
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