The NBA’s global reach and popularity don’t mean it is perfect. The league has its share of problems and faults, including tanking, which has become an even bigger problem of late. Then there is the combination of major injuries to star players and those stars opting out of things like the dunk contest that keeps the league from reaching its full potential. Amidst all this, it’s good to know that as long as the Lakers exist, the NBA will never be boring.
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As the most talked-about team in the Association, the Lakers are incapable of being normal. That’s true on the court, where their tendency to get blown out yet still win 60% of their games has perplexed fans and analysts alike. And it’s certainly true off it as well. The Lake Show isn’t just a nickname; it’s the perfect moniker for this Purple and Gold reality show.
And the most intriguing narrative in L.A. of late… Well, everyone wants to know if LeBron James will a) keep playing basketball after this season, and b) keep playing it for the Lakers. For his part, LeBron hasn’t offered much in the way of answers, but that hasn’t stopped everyone from giving their own opinions and predictions.
Last week, former Lakers player and coach Byron Scott told the Brown Bag Mornings show on Power 106 Los Angeles had been blunt about LeBron’s future. “I’m a fan, but I don’t mince words either. I think this should be his last year here,” he said.
That didn’t sit well with the Lakers and LeBron superfan Shannon Sharpe. On Sunday night’s episode of Nightcap, the NFL Hall of Famer questioned why the King has to deal with these kinds of comments when Kobe Bryant never did.
Before adding how much he likes Scott personally, Sharpe said, “I wonder, if LeBron wasn’t on the Lakers, would he still feel it’s time for LeBron to leave? He didn’t do a whole lot of talking about the Lakers in Kobe’s last years. Did you hear anything about the Lakers?”
Sharpe’s point is that before Kobe retired, the Lakers were trash. They won a total of 65 games in Kobe’s final three years combined. That’s a far cry from the glory days when he won championships with Shaquille O’Neal and then Pau Gasol. In the final two years of Kobe’s career, which produced a 38-126 record, the head coach was Byron Scott.
LeBron may not be the star attraction any longer, not with Luka Doncic in town. But he’s still, along with Luka and Austin Reaves, one of the three most important players on the team. And not just any team. The Lakers are hanging tough in an ultra-competitive Western Conference playoff race.
LeBron has never been embraced by the majority of the Purple and Gold fans as a true Laker, certainly not in the way Kobe was. It’s understandable, since Kobe spent his entire career in Los Angeles and LeBron didn’t get there until his 16th year. However, that doesn’t mean James should be relegated to second-class citizen status, especially when he led the franchise to a title in 2020.
Sharpe acknowledged that it takes more than one player to contend for a title. However, he insisted that it’s time to show LeBron a bit more appreciation instead of just kicking him out the door.
“The mere fact that you even think it’s possible for a team with a 41-year-old to get to the championship lets you know just how great this man is,” added Sharpe.
As the saying goes, you don’t know what you got until it’s gone. And Sharpe thinks the Lakers will find that out the hard way if and when LeBron decides to go. In the meantime, they’ll continue to be the NBA’s most drama-filled attraction.
