On Thursday night against the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James made his return to the lineup after missing three straight games.
During his absence, speculation grew about whether James truly raised L.A.’s ceiling for winning games. This was due in part to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, who have yet to figure out a consistent synergy, playing some of their best basketball with him out of the lineup.
Admittedly, expectations have not been met, but the Lakers seemingly did not miss one of the greatest players of all time in their starting five. Among all the noise, James made an effort not to disrupt what Doncic and Reaves have been cooking as of late against Chicago.
Head coach JJ Redick took notice of that and shared his admiration of an all-time great making offensive sacrifices for the betterment of the team.
“I thought he was great tonight,” Redick said. “I think he’s certainly, again, I talked about the human element. He certainly felt what AR and Luka feel at times. He’s been a high usage player and the number one option his whole career. I know he wants to win and he wants to do everything possible to help this team win, even if it looks a little bit different. He had to make some sacrifices when we traded for Luka last year. He understands how important it is for Luka and AR to have time on the ball. The realistic thing is that when they’re on the court together, that’s going to take away time on the ball from him. I thought his screening tonight and getting in the pocket, scoring there and making plays out of that was great. He crashed a couple times. He ended up with 18 [points], 7 [rebounds], 7 [assists] and two steals. He just had a great basketball game.”
Frankly, lessening James’ workload benefits both parties, given how much firepower Los Angeles possesses. So, Redick spoke about potentially redefining the four-time champions role moving forward.
“Yeah. LeBron [James] and I, we talked,” Redick continued. “We had a great conversation over the last couple days. I think again, he wants to do everything possible to help this team win. He understands the importance of making sure Luka and AR can be at their best. That’s incredible of him. It speaks a lot to just how much he cares about this team and his teammates and how much he wants to win.”
After a concerning stretch of games coming out of the All-Star break, it is great to see the Lakers find their footing. With Doncic on a heater, James’ sacrifice should be appreciated and perhaps simplifying his role can strengthen their play moving forward.
LeBron James: I can adapt game to Lakers’ needs
Aging stars tend to struggle with lesser roles as they near the end of their respective career. But LeBron James continues to make conservative efforts to make himself effective at 41-years-old, admitting he can adapt his game to whatever the Lakers need.
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