The Los Angeles Lakers — and LeBron James — have looked far from their championship form that was seen in March. After a four-month hiatus, L.A. has gone ice cold offensively and are in need of some kind of rhythm as they sit with a 2-3 record thus far in the NBA restart.
While James is not entirely to blame for the team’s issues, he hasn’t played consistently well himself. In four seeding games, James averaged 19.3 points, 10 rebounds and 6.3 assists while shooting a subpar 42% from the field and an even worse 27.3% from three.
In addition to that, James has a collective -8, something that is very unlike him. He sat out the Lakers’ loss to the Houston Rockets because of a sore right groin.
James, when discussing the Lakers’ struggles in Orlando, urged that getting back to championship form will not simply happen overnight. “Only time will tell. I don’t really have expectations right now,” he said.
“We want to continue to get better and better, use these games to try and gear up for the postseason. But this is a different situation and circumstance. We’ve been out four and a half months, and you hope we can pick it right back up, but obviously it’s going to take some time.
“We also added two new guys that are going to be in the rotation with JR and Dion, so they’re learning on the fly. It’s all about the process, all about getting back into rhythm and timing, and go from there. Every game is an opportunity for us to get better.”
Other championship caliber teams like the Milwaukee Bucks and L.A. Clippers have struggled as well. Still, the Lakers have looked particularly bad at times, and there is undoubtedly cause for concern.
However, if James believes the necessary improvements will eventually happen, his track record would show that he’s likely right.
LeBron talks bubble challenge
While James is usually seen as a larger-than-life figure, even he has had trouble adjusting to life within the bubble. Beyond the physical toll, James said he’s struggles to stay locked in with his family and normal life so far away.
“Obviously, being away from your family is an unbelievable sacrifice we’re all making, and it’s very difficult. We have road games, when we go to the West Coast or East Coast, you have 11-day road trips of five or six games,” he said.
“And sometimes when you play in the Olympics, you can be away from your family because you’re traveling from country to country. But nothing has ever compared to this. It’s a huge sacrifice we’re all making. I miss the hell out of my family, my wife, my kids, my mother and so on. It’s a huge challenge to be able to stay locked in.”
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