LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers face elimination as they take on the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, Monday night. Stephen A. Smith believes if they get swept, it will be a stamp on the talk that The King is not going to win another title.
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The Lakers did have a much better postseason than they should have had, in contrast to their start of the 2022-23 season. However, title expectations grew stronger among the experts and their fans as they kept winning games against the Grizzlies in the first round, and then the Warriors.
They were so good in most games, that nobody would have thought they will be down 3 games to start Game 4 of the WCF against the Nuggets.
“LeBron James will never capture a 5th ring”: Stephen A Smith on if Lakers get swept
Before the Purple and Gold took on the Nuggets for Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena, the ESPN crew discussed what would be the repercussions of a sweep. Stephen A Smith did not hesitate in saying that it would implicate James will not be winning his 5th title in the remainder of his career.
“It would be an official stamp on the belief that LeBron James will never capture a 5th ring. It’s really that simple,” said Smith on NBA Countdown, further explaining that the current Lakers squad would not be good enough to contend for a championship without a major tweak.
What adjustments do the Lakers and James need to contend for the title?
If and when the Lakers get out of this postseason, they will need a conversation with their oldest veteran to respectfully give the reigns to somebody else. This time though, James cannot just say it at the beginning of the season to boost their confidence and then take back the driver’s seat whenever he is feeling like his younger self.
He must stop handling the ball for the majority of the game. We saw him do it lesser in the Grizzlies and Warriors series, with D’Angelo Russell, Dennis Schroder, and Austin Reaves getting equal chances. However, he has been back at it since the Nuggets series started and everything went downhill since then.
If he wants a 5th, it is time he goes about it like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did late in his career. That way, who knows, James might also extend his career well past his 40s and get a couple more rings.
