The 2018-19 NBA season did not go the way the Los Angeles Lakers expected. Adding LeBron James in free agency gave the franchise their first superstar since the retirement of Kobe Bryant and most expected their playoff drought to end behind him and the growth of the young core.
Unfortunately, injuries and constant questions about the future of the roster aside from James combined to do the team in as the playoff drought stretches to six seasons.
Even still, the support from the Lakers family remains strong including from Bryant himself.
In an interview with Mike Greenberg of ESPN, Bryant spoke about Year 1 with James and how to move forward in a disappointing season:
“You just got to keep pushing. Seasons like this are what make the championships worth it.”
Bryant is speaking from experience as he went through every type of season in his illustrious career. Whether it was early or mid-round playoff exits or missing the playoffs entirely to being on both the winning and losing side of the NBA Finals, Bryant has seen it all and thus learned to appreciate everything.
James himself understands what Bryant is speaking of but for the young Lakers who have never experienced a championship or even the playoffs, it is all unknown. The most important thing for them is to learn from this experience and continue to grow as the pressure won’t die down and will even increase in Year 2.
Of course, there are plenty of questions for the Lakers regarding next season as the roster will likely be completely different. Regardless of what the team does this summer, the Lakers will be expecting the result to be better and what they’ve gone through this season will make it that much sweeter.