In Year 23, LeBron James had to do more adjusting on and off the floor than he ever has. James missed the start of the regular season for the first time in his career due to a sciatic nerve injury, and later came back as the Los Angeles Lakers’ third option behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Despite the shift in his role and responsibilities, James didn’t complain and helped lead the Lakers to the fourth seed. Now, however, James has to go back to being the primary option because Doncic and Reaves are set to miss the first round against the Houston Rockets. Rui Hachimura acknowledged how much James had to change his game this season and praised him for still being a vocal leader in the locker room.
“I think since I got here, this is basically my fourth season with the Lakers, and every year I’ve seen different coaches, whatever teammates, and how LeBron’s been especially this year is really different for him, I think,” Hachimura said after a recent practice.
“But I think he really respects the team, respects the coaches, the players and he understands the roles on this team and it’s been great. I think he’s been vocal, of course, being one of our leaders and I think with the play style it’s a little different from what I’ve seen so far since I got here but he’s been doing great. That’s why I think we got this number four seed, so it’s big time for him.”
James has largely been the leader on and off the floor for Los Angeles since Hachimura arrived, but he found a way to cede control over to Doncic and Reaves, who had excellent seasons in their own right. Reverting back to the number one option shouldn’t be too difficult for James given it’s the role he played most of his career, but he’ll need help from players like Hachimura to help the Lakers pull off the upset.
The Rockets present several challenges on both ends of the floor, but James has already warned the team that they need to prepare for threats outside of Kevin Durant. It’ll be a tough challenge, though the Lakers have the perfect leader in James to lead them through it.
LeBron James reveals feelings about returning to primary scoring role
James may consider himself more of a playmaker, but he’s also quite the scorer. Now that Doncic and Reaves are out for the foreseeable future, James has to go back to being the primary scorer for the Lakers and he said he’s up for the challenge.
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