The Los Angeles Lakers are now in a new era as a franchise by navigating life after LeBron James while shifting focus to building a championship roster around Luka Doncic. It is hard to build a title contender in one offseason, but general manager Rob Pelinka has to find a way to get as close as possible to appease Doncic with a contract extension looming.
Fortunately, the Slovenian star got to learn from James and play alongside him before he decided to depart. Reflecting on his eight years in Los Angeles, the 41-year-old cashed in on bringing a championship in 2020 along with breaking seemingly countless records in a Lakers jersey. However, five-time champion Derek Fisher spoke out about James leaving L.A. and was confused how people did not appreciate his tenure.
“A lot of people in L.A. didn’t love LeBron’s time here and it’s been confusing to me,” Fisher said on Yahoo Sports Daily. “The reaction to him deciding not to return to L.A., a lot of people have celebrated it and almost had a parade as if so this is the greatest thing ever. I’m not saying this is doomsday for the Lakers by any means. I think the organization will be fine, it’s been here for 80 years, it’ll be fine. But, I’m surprised by the reaction for sure and I think people have moved on, a lot of fans have.”
Numerous greats have dawned a Lakers jersey and they are celebrated in the city of Los Angeles. But, it feels like the all-time leading scorer was not quiet accepted by the entire fanbase and Fisher does not quite understand the reasoning behind it.
“That’s a great question,” he said. “You think about the greats of Lakers past, many of those guys were kind of born and raised as Lakers for the most part. You think about James Worthy, No. 1 draft pick. You think about Magic Johnson even though Kareem, formerly Lew Alcindor was traded to L.A., he spent a considerable amount of time here in Los Angeles and really felt like a piece of the fabric of L.A. And so many greats even Shaq, eight years here and it’s like people forgot he played in Orlando as well. But, it’s the years here in L.A. that changed everything. Obviously, Kobe being here for 20 seasons. I think other stars felt more like they became who they were as Lakers and I think a lot of Lakers fans had a difficult time receiving the fact that LeBron was already LeBron before he got here.”
Fisher makes a great point and that is presumably the reason as to why James was never truly accepted by all Lakers fans. He won championships with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers before arriving to Los Angeles. Despite that, he helped the Lakers out of a dark place before he signed and leading them to a title in an era filled with parity should be appreciated now that he is officially departing.
Austin Reaves reveals text message after LeBron James decided to leave Lakers
After last season, it felt like the writing was on the wall of James entertaining playing elsewhere next year or retiring. Following his decision to play for a new team, James received a funny text from Austin Reaves.
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