An important offseason awaits for Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James as decides if he wants to keep playing and if so, where. Despite his age, James has shown that he can be a valuable third option behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves if he wants to return to the Lakers.
Regardless of what happens, the four-time champion put Los Angeles back on the map after enduring a multi-year rebuild when Kobe Bryant retired. For that, L.A. Sparks and WNBA legend Lisa Leslie thanked James for choosing the City of Angels and sustaining his excellence.
“Can we give LeBron his flowers, his crown. Because I feel like, I’m a L.A. girl, and LeBron filled a huge void for us in L.A. You guys gotta remember, we lost the great, late Kobe Bryant,” Leslie said on ESPN’s First Take. “Shoutout to Kobe, Gigi. And so to have LeBron come into L.A. and perform the way he has at the level that he has for this amount of time.
“We just sometimes are so critical of this man who has been nothing but perfection for the Purple and Gold. He has held the standard and carried the legacy of what the Lakers are. I don’t know when he’s gonna end his career, but I just wanna say LeBron James, thank you King James for coming to L.A. and being everything that you have been.
“We appreciate you, salute you. People who sit on the side and don’t understand how hard it is for everything that you do every single day, those of us who balled, ball recognize ball.”
When James decided to sign with the Lakers back in 2018, he received backlash as many thought this decision was not about winning championships. Granted, his business acumen has grown in these eight years, but he delivered on bringing a title to the organization in 2020.
There were bumps in the road, and relationships were presumably tested during down seasons, but James stuck it out as a testament to his character. While signs point to one more year in Los Angeles, even if he decided to walk away, he should get plenty of praise for everything he accomplished in purple and gold.
LeBron James has enjoyed witnessing growth of Austin Reaves
A feel-good story for the Lakers in recent years has been Austin Reaves, who was an undrafted two-way signing in 2021. Reaves has developed his game every year and now anticipates a massive payday near max-level money from L.A. or elsewhere in free agency this summer.
One of Reaves’ biggest supporters over the years has been James and he recently shared how much he has enjoyed watching Reaves’ growth since 2021.
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